Crowds at markets
Despite this week’s lockdown, there were large crowds at vegetable markets as seen in this picture taken at the Peliyagoda vegetable market. Pic by Eshan Fernando
Organic fertiliser to reach farmers in October
Sri Lanka’s two state fertiliser companies on Thursday signed an agreement with the Chinese fertiliser supplier for the import of inputs used to manufacture organic fertiliser scheduled for distribution among farmers from October. The agreement to import organic inputs was signed by both state companies, Lakpohora and the Ceylon Fertiliser Company with the supplier Qingdao [...]
CB unwittingly contributing to unofficial market for dollars
The Central Bank (CB) may have by a quirk of fate contributed to a flourishing unofficial market operation in the wake of the US dollar exchange crisis eating away the remaining foreign reserves in the country. With foreign exchange resources being scarce, the CB is unable to pump dollars into the market and stabilise the [...]
SL money printing drives foreign exchange shortages
Money printing that has taken place in Sri Lanka since January has not resulted in expanding the monetary base at a rate that is unsustainable (overheating of the economy) or increased inflation, Finance Ministry data showed. The Central Bank has issued new currency amounting to Rs.94.5 billion this year up to July 2021 compared to [...]
Buyer beware: CSE game played on social media
Sri Lanka’s stock market game has changed: Unlike a decade ago when a few high networth individuals and their crony brokers played the market so much so the regulators were helpless and some of the latter were sent home. This game – for the lack of a better word – is now played on social [...]
Tourism awaits coming months with anticipation
Sri Lanka is biding its time ahead of coming months to be moved out of the red list of countries to travel to in a bid to generate the tourist traffic from the traditional markets in Europe. In the next few months for certain when the death rate reduces and the vaccination drive reaches out [...]
Riding the storm
Woke up late this morning and as I was munching my favourite ‘kimbula bunis’ (the crocodile-shaped bun with sugar sprinkled on top), the phone rang. By the way, the decades-old ‘kimbula bunis’ hasn’t lost its glamour and is still a favourite, even among today’s younger generation. Who was calling this early in the morning? It [...]
Building and economic construction in Sri Lanka
We have seen many condominiums and shopping malls in Colombo. When you enter the ground floor or basement areas of such buildings, perhaps you would have noticed a giant power generator. Apart from its capital cost and operational cost, it occupies a considerable and valuable part of the space of these buildings; if they are [...]
Sri Lankans in panic mode; search for firewood online!
At a time when shortages in various stocks like gas became a prime concern, people have panicked and searched for firewood online! Taking on the challenge of reaching out to the people with what they needed online shop Kapruka in a bold move decided to sell firewood online and meet a demand that was kept [...]
Tax Amnesty: Saving grace or the devil in disguise?
The Finance Act Bill which is to undergo amendments to 12 of its clauses on a Supreme Court order issued last week consists of two parts namely ‘imposing Tax on voluntary disclosure’ and ‘provisions to write off tax arrears under certain laws’. Even though it isn’t explicitly mentioned, in effect it is a Tax Amnesty. [...]
Smart Media’s 10-year partnership on carbon credits
Sri Lanka’s Smart Media group has seen the tremendous benefit to the environment in purchasing carbon credits from the US-based Carbonfund.org Foundation. “You can’t say we didn’t see it coming,” says Vijith Kannangara, Executive Chair of Smart Media The Annual Report Company, adding: “Climate science has been around for decades, the dire warnings were there [...]
Extreme weather severely affects agriculture
Extreme weather patterns that pervade the country have a devastating effect on agriculture and tourism with flooding and landslides that affects the poor and the marginalized and has a destabilising effect on businesses. Seventy two percent of people in the country are involved indirectly in agriculture. Globally climate change is expected to drastically reduce crop [...]
Emirates to resume Colombo – Male flights from 1st Sept
Emirates has announced the resumption of its Colombo – Male service starting September 1. The daily service between the two cities will be an extension of its Dubai-Male flight EK652 to Colombo, with the return flight EK653 operating from Colombo to Dubai via Male, the airline said this week. Emirates flight EK652 will depart Dubai [...]
Government to complete 121 mega projects this year amidst financial woes
The Government, amidst a bleak economic situation with an almost empty coffer, has drawn up plans to complete 121 mega scale development projects this year, a Cabinet memorandum presented by the Finance Ministry on August 16 revealed. The aim of presenting this memorandum by Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa is to inform the Ministers on the [...]
More foreign exchange from value addition of export products from Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka’s coconut exports during the last few years have seen good growth with value addition being a key factor. There are around 3,000 hectares of coconut land certified as organic land in the country. Coconut products are exported in the form of fresh coconut milk powder, oil, chips etc which receive a premium price [...]
Nippon Paint 3-In-1 MediFresh covers several SL healthcare facilities
Nippon Paint, recently initiated a campaign to help healthcare facilities around Sri Lanka with their latest product 3-in-1 MediFresh which is an antibacterial coating developed with Silver & Zinc ions to keep disease-causing microorganisms at bay. The project to insulate hospitals around the country was initiated at the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) in Colombo and [...]
Sri Lanka negotiates with UAE on oil credit line deal
Sri Lanka is exploring the possibility of entering into a long term credit line deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to import crude oil and refined petroleum directly from that country with the aim of meeting the present fuel requirement. This was highlighted during talks between United Arab Emirates’ Ambassador to Sri Lanka Sheikh [...]
Supporting multi-sector COVID-19 response in Sri Lanka
In early 2020 when the first COVID-19 wave swept across Sri Lanka, triggering lockdowns, and impacting livelihoods, the World Bank and the government came together to support emergency response actions across multiple hard-hit sectors. The result was the creation of the Contingent Emergency Response Components (CERC) Pool covering key economic sectors of agriculture, education, ICT, [...]
24th Presidential Export Awards Ceremony on December 3
The Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB) is planning to hold the 24th Presidential Export Awards Ceremony for the financial years 2019/20 and 2020/21 on December 3 at the BMICH under the patronage of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Chairman/CEO of EDB Suresh D. de Mel, highlighting the significance of this year’s awards ceremony, said that this [...]