Sugar crisis
A long queue was seen outside the Sathosa shop in Puttalam on Friday where 3 kg of sugar is being sold to each consumer amidst a shortage of this commodity. The Sathosa price of white sugar is Rs. 122 while brown sugar is sold at Rs. 125. In the outside markets, sugar has been trading [...]
Some Lankan exporters shifting manufacturing to West Africa
Some exporters, in the wake of the currency exchange crisis, are contemplating or have already decided to shift their manufacturing businesses to countries in the burgeoning West African region depriving Sri Lanka from earning export dollars. “Unless there is a viable policy to retain and encourage them to remain here, we will lose the little [...]
Sri Lanka heads to travel fairs to boost forex
Sri Lanka will kick off physically participating at travel fairs from this month following discussions between the authorities and industry to engage in these to ensure the much needed foreign exchange flows back into the country. Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau officials told the Business Times that while Sri Lanka will participate at the annual [...]
Govt. expedites organic fertiliser production
The Government is accelerating the production of organic fertiliser, deploying two state-owned companies and 27 locally registered manufacturers to meet the requirement of farmers during this Maha season. In a separate development, Agriculture Minister Mahindandanada Aluthgamage told the Business Times that, on a directive issued by the President, a sum of Rs.12,500 is being distributed [...]
Organic fertiliser imports to cost over $63 m
Sri Lanka is to import fertiliser inputs to the tune of US$63.7 million for the September-March Maha season alone. According to a letter issued by the Agriculture Department Additional Secretary Mahesh Gammanpila in awarding the contract to Valency International Pvt. Ltd. in Singapore on August 4, 2021 to import fertiliser inputs from Qingdao Seawin Biotech [...]
SEC surveillance on a stock market guru
A heavy hitter in the stock market ‘game’ and currently rocking the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) is being probed by the capital market regulator. The Business Times learns from highly placed sources in the capital market that these investigations were started a few weeks ago when certain stocks recommended by him on social media sites [...]
Difficult choices
It was another lockdown period with the week ahead full of uncertainty and by the time this column reaches you on Sunday courtesy your favourite Sunday newspaper, we would know whether the lockdown will be continued or not for a third week. While we are ravaged by news of new variants and mutations of the [...]
Good food for the rich
As Sri Lanka banned the usage and import of chemical fertiliser for agriculture production – for both domestic agriculture and plantation agriculture -, I too received many requests from some of my regular readers to write about its economic implications. However, my response in writing on the fertiliser issue in this column got delayed. It’s [...]
Sri Lanka’s Maha “experiment” to yield uncertain results
Sri Lanka is going into the Maha season not knowing the consequences of suddenly adopting organic farming methods. While authorities believe yields will be as per the current levels, other agricultural experts expect a yield drop of over 20 per cent that could prove detrimental for a country already struggling to import food. Agriculture Department [...]
National initiative to nurture digital technology awareness in Southern region
The Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) together with the Ministry of Technology, Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRCSL), telecommunications partners and industry partners recently launched a two-day national forum to create awareness about the national digital transformation agenda, which also engages regional partners. The Southern Region Roadshow was the second of the five regional cluster development [...]
Elpitiya Plantations launches locally harvested fresh berries
Fresh berries nurtured in Sri Lanka under the brand name, ‘BerryMuch’ will be launched in Sri Lanka. Harvested in the salubrious environs of Elpitiya Plantations PLC, the company brings the fresh goodness of ‘BerryMuch’ to all Sri Lankans. Initially, ‘Berrymuch’ will offer strawberries, with plans to introduce more fresh varieties in the very near future, [...]
Excessive price controls will worsen shortages, says Advocata
Harsh enforcement of price controls in Sri Lanka may worsen food shortages, according to local think tank Advocata. There is serious concern with the steep rise in the price of essentials which has taken place over the past two years. Advocata’s Bath Curry Indicator (BCI), which tracks commonly consumed items, shows a 30 percent increase [...]
Lenovo launches the first foldable PC
Lenovo, the global technology leader, this week announced the launch of the ThinkPad X1 Fold in Sri Lanka. The ThinkPad X1 Fold is the first of its kind in a new personal computing category that will push boundaries and redefine how we engage with technology and eliminate security threats while working and learning from home, [...]
SL receives $ 1.1 m from IMF SDRs, CDB
Sri Lanka has received the US$800 million International Monetary Fund’s IMF Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation and another $300 million from China Development Bank (CDB) to improve liquidity and boost foreign reserves, the Finance Ministry announced on Tuesday. The IMF facility was due on August 27 but it was slightly delayed due to procedural issues, [...]
NSB strong and resilient during 1st half 2021
State-owned National Savings Bank (NSB), recording its highest-ever profit for a period of six months (first half of 2021) with a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of Rs. 13.9 billion and a Profit After Tax (PAT) of Rs.11 billion, has shown strength and financial resilience in performance amidst the heightened uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [...]
TUs raise alarm over COVID-19 concerns in Lankan workplaces
Sri Lankan workplaces, in key sectors of the economy, have become high risk areas vis-a-vis COVID-19 with large numbers working together where some outdated guidelines are violated and where workers are unlikely to be safe. “Based on our experience although tourists are in a bio bubble they do not wear a mask,” Hotel Workers Centre [...]
Pelwatte Dairy embarks on full cold supply-chain analysis
Pelwatte Dairy, one of the leading local dairy brands in Sri Lanka that produces a range of dairy products and saves valuable foreign exchange for the country, has made significant investments to upgrade its milk preservation technologies to cater to the rising demand and to ensure its milk is of the highest quality, the company [...]
Online sales of footwear and leather products grow
Sri Lanka’s US$550 million footwear and leather manufacturing and export sector is leveraging web penetration and the rise of e-commerce to promote sales and find new markets understanding customer behaviour in the latest wave of COVID-19, several leather product industry leaders said. This sector of one of the oldest crafts has been gradually adapting to [...]
Huge benefits from twinning Floating Solar and Hydropower-World Bank
Sri Lanka needs to add an estimated 11,000 MW to its power grid within the next two decades to meet growing demand. Adding large-scale floating solar plants would not only make electricity greener and affordable but improve Sri Lanka’s overall economic competitiveness as well, the World Bank said in a media release. Sri Lanka’s energy [...]
Public servants to tighten belts amidst payment cuts
The Government plans to save over Rs.40 billion from the budgetary allocation of ministries by further pruning recurrent expenditure for public sector employees by way of cutting additional payments of state employees numbering over 1.5 million. Annual expenditure for these employees serving in 1251 state entities is around 44 percent of the public sector revenue, [...]