Markets

Money Market Update First Capital Ltd 

During the week ended 16th November, the aggravating liquidity shortfall in the money market, kept the money market interest rates continuously rising to persistently renew its peak. The liquidity shortfall remained widening, and on Wednesday, the reverse repo at the Central Bank window amounted for Rs.18.1Bn, which was Rs. 2Bn more than the previous highest. Most probably the likely dollar sales by the Central Bank to the market, would have squeezed the liquidity in the market. The weekly Call money average shot up by 295 basis points to close 19.85%, as compared with the previous week. The inter-bank term money rates followed the path of the call money rates and quoted high as the market does not see an improvement in the liquidity in near future. 

Given the unchanged Central Bank Open Market Operations rates, the market repo rates held at 18%.

The three months money was offered at 22%. The demand for term money for 1~3 months remained strong as certain market players looking for a hedge to by pass the month of December, which is generally affected by seasonal withdrawals. 

CB open market operations

Treasury bill auction

                     Days 91 182 364 

Last Week    15.97 15.98 16.40
This Week    16.17 16.31 17.12
Change         0.20% 0.33% 0.72%

Treasury bond auction

Maturity 01-Nov-01
Coupon 10.75%
Amount offered Rs.Mn 2000
Amount Accepted Rs.Mn 2000
Weighted Average 19.88 %
Change 1.24 %
Foreign Exchange – Dollar spot movement

During the week the Central Bank increased the middle rate by 33cents and on the week ending Thursday, the Central Bank buying and selling range closed at Rs. 76.09 and Rs. 80.63 respectively. With this, since the Central Bank re-started with daily adjustments of buying and selling rates of dollars, the middle rate has rose up by 82 cents, while the spot gained by 140 cents. Therefore, the prevailing money market interest rates failed to push market players to sell dollars. 

Hence, the demand for dollars remained steady. During the week the spot opened at Rs. 80.24~80.28 and closed at Rs. 80.70~80.80, higher than the Central Bank selling rate. Three months forward was quoted at Rs. 83.75 to Rs. 84.00, while six months was at Rs. 85.75 to Rs.86.00. 

News

Sri Lanka's low saving ratio: a chicken and egg situation

By Chanakya Dissanayake

"Sri Lanka's National Savings Ratio (NSR) was 24% GDP in 1999. This is very low compared to countries like Singapore and many regional tiger economies which had savings ratios of nearly 50% of GDP. In my opinion this is one of main reasons for low economic performance and low investments in Sri Lanka. eighty% to ninety% of domestic investments should be financed by local savings. 

FDI' s are needed only for specialised areas that require latest technology. We should not wait for foreign funds for our investments, we should take up the challenge and raise the funds internally. Once we prove ourselves, foreign investors will find Sri Lanka attractive", Dr Kelegamasaid at the forum.

Speaking on the low performance of the Colombo Stock Exchange, the eminent economist said if the local savings played a major role in the stock exchange, the plight would have been averted. "Speculative short term foreign investments can deter the growth in a developing economy, the stock exchange is a good example", he added.

According to some economists Sri Lanka's per capita income of $ 850 cannot facilitate further growth in national savings."This is a chicken and egg situation, if the per capita income is high, savings will rise and vice versa. In Sri Lanka, both domestic savings ratio (DSR) and National Savings Ratio (NSR) has been rising for the past few years. In my opinion it has entered a saturation stage. The current per capita income does not leave enough disposable income to encourage more savings", said Senior Research Economist, Dr. Vimal Hettiarachchi. The government's macro economic policy has also deterred savings. Over the past few years the budget deficit has been on an upward trend. " The government is dis-saving. It is borrowing funds to meet recurrent expenditure. Budgetary management has been administered by cutting down on capital expenditure. The government is not in a position to save with the ever increasing PSBR", Dr. Hettiarachchi added.

The Central Bank monetary experts deny the high co-relation between income and savings. " Modern economic research shows that savings are a function of habit and it is not a function of income as previously believed. If we can provide the savers with a higher return to justify their sacrifice on consumption, Domestic Savings can be improved. To provide a higher rate of return to deposits, Sri Lanka's financial service sector should be restructured. If we are trying to bring down unemployment to 2%, we need a growth rate of at least 10% GDP. Given Sri Lanka's capital stock and the state of technology we need an investment ratio of at least 35% GDP to achieve this. Since Sri Lanka's Domestic Savings Ratio is only 19%, there is an huge savings-investments gap. This is the reason for our over dependence on FDI's", said a senior Central Bank Economist.

The recent World Bank and ADB studies has revealed that voluntary savings in Sri Lanka can be increased by reforming the financial services sector to give a higher return to savings. They also emphasise the need for higher efficiency in the sector and lower transaction costs 
Officer Bearers 

The 42nd Annual General Meeting of the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) was held on November 9 at the BMICH. G. L. Peiris, Minister of Constitutional Affairs and Industrial Development was the Chief Guest. 

The following were elected to the Council for the year 2000/2001:-

President Chandra J. Embuldeniya, CEO, Informatics (Pvt) Ltd., Deputy President-Asoka de Z. Gunasekera, Group Director, IWS Holdings., Deputy President- H. Ananda Wehalle, Director/GM-People's Merchant Bank Ltd., Honorary Secretary -Ms. N. S. M. Samaratunga, Director, Mackwoods Ltd., Honorary Treasurer-S. B. Hewage, Deputy Chairman, Readywear Industries Ltd & United Motors Lanka Ltd., 

Standing Committee 

Chairmen, Committee Chairmen, Agribusiness-Prof. Kapila Gunasekera AbC - University of Peradeniya, Dairy/Livestock/Fisheries-A. A. M. Saheed Bairaha Farms Ltd., Engineering & Construction-Dudley Fernando Elemech Engineers (Pvt) Ltd., Exporters-Joseph Sinniah, Akbar Brothers Ltd., Health & Environment Bramwell Smith, Unicel (Pvt) Ltd, Importers & Agents-D. Eassuwaren, Eswaran Brothers Exporters (Pte) Ltd., Industries- Naizer Cader, Sinwa Holdings (Pvt) Ltd., Information Technology & Telecommunications-Jit Warnakulasuriya, Just in Time (Pvt) Ltd., Insurance, Finance & Taxation Nihal Fonseka-DFCC Bank, Non-Traditional Exporters-A. Kandappah, British Lanka Trading (Pte) Ltd., Plantation Industries -Vish Govindasamy, Watawala Plantations Ltd., Ports & Shipping-M. Reza, Sri Lanka Shipping Co. Ltd., Small & Medium Enterprises-Nihal Dissanayake, Athwela (Pvt) Ltd., Textile & Clothing Felician Peiris, Shiran Apparels (Pvt) Ltd., Transport & Automotive Industry-Saroj Perera, Douglas & Sons Ltd., Travel/Tourism & Hospitality T. D. V. Gunaratne, Ceylon Shipping Lines Ltd.

Other members of the Council, E. P. D. Soza Colombo Engineers Ltd., S. R. Balachandran Millers, Mahen Dayananda Tea Tang Ltd., Asoka Hettigoda Hettigoda Industries Ltd., Sumana Liyanage Sri Lanka China Business Corporation Council, Upali Panditharatne Mansel (Ceylon) Ltd., Nalin Kamaragoda Techwaters (Pvt) Ltd., Shamil Mendis Delmege Forsyth Exporters (Pvt) Ltd., Manju Haththotuwa Millennium Information Technologies Ltd., Fahmy Cader Ceylon Entertainments Ltd., S. R. Gnanam, St. Anthony's Consolidated Ltd., Shiraz Jeevunjee Dairy Development Milk Procurement & Processors Association, T. Saumyaraj TSG Software Ltd., Harin Fernando H. R. Fernando Co. Ltd., Ranjan de Silva Associated Motorways Ltd.

New NIIT centre in Kurunegala 

The new centre will use the revolutionary e-Technology curriculum from NIIT to offer world-class education & training. 

This would be the first NIIT outstation centre to offer the latest curriculum providing the opportunity for world class IT training to students in rural areas. 

Students will be trained on a variety of environments including Windows NT, LINUX and on an equally wide variety of hardware platforms. Students will be also trained in two of the most sought- after skills in the computer industry: object oriented programming, which is covered extensively using Visual Basic and programming with Java, the programming environment for the Internet. 

MMBL CyberSkills (Pv) Ltd., licensee of NIIT in Sri Lanka is a BOI approved joint venture company between Mercantile Merchant Bank Ltd. and The Maharaja Organization Ltd. 

The company envisages to open four more IT Education & Training centres in outstation locations in the near future. 

Chamber to account for 1/4 of GDP

As service provider to private sector organizations, the Chamber's current membership is 516 leading corporate entities, including several renowned blue chip companies. This, together with the memberships in the 39 affiliated trade associations and 21 bilateral business councils, expands the chamber's outreach to nearly 2000 organizations.

There is no typical profile for Chamber members, a media release said. "Our 161 year old establishment services the needs of organizations regardless of size, activity or degree of complexity. What they have in common is the desire to enjoy the whole range of quality services provided by the highly professional staff of the Secretariat."

However, the Chamber recognizes the importance of an even stronger and more representative membership in fulfilling its twin missions of being the voice of the private sector and promoting national economic development. Organizations, which the Chamber hopes to attract, inlude provincial and district level companies, newly incorporated businesses and established councerns from the industrial sector.

Asian Paints meet here 

The CEOs of four of Asian Paints' nine international operations including Sri Lanka will join top management representatives of Asian Paints (India) at this crucial planning conference at the Taj Exotica in Bentota from November 24 - 26, the company said this week. 

Themed "First Gear" the conference will focus on building the impetus of sales, marketing, and service in Asian Paints operations in Sri Lanka, Oman, Mauritius, and Nepal. 

The heads of operations in each of these countries will make individual presentations on their respective markets at this conference. Pointing out that Asian Paints entered the Sri Lankan market only a year ago, Asian Paints (Lanka) CEO Suresh Mohandas commented: "We are privileged to host such an important forum. It is a statement of Asian Paints' commitment to this market, and an acknowledgement of the country's attraction as a conference venue." 

The countries participating in the conference represent fairly new operations in the Asian Paints family, and the choice of the theme "First Gear" reflects the focus of the conference — to generate maximum acceleration for an uphill climb, Mr. Mohandas explained.

The conference programme would include a review of the performances of each of the four international operations, the outlook, targets and thrust areas for each of these markets in the year ahead, and the resources required to achieve set goals in this period, he added. 

The delegation from the parent company, Asian Paints (India) would be led by its Vice President - International Jalaj Dani, and will comprise senior management from the technical, human resources, finance and planning divisions of the company. 

Rated this year as the fourth most-admired company in India and the "bluest" of India's blue chips for the new millennium by prestigious business publications, Asian Paints reported gross sales of more than Rs 23.6 Billion in 1999 - 2000. The company employs 3000 people and operates four manufacturing plants in India and nine others in Fiji, Tonga, Nepal, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Australia, Mauritius, Oman and Sri Lanka. Asian Paints entered the Sri Lankan market with an acquisition of a 76 per cent stake in Delmege Forsyth & Company (Paints) in October last year. 

Another first in local banking sector

This means that holders of Non-Resident Foreign Currency (NRFC), Resident Foreign Currency (RFC), Resident Non-National Foreign Currency (RNNFC) and Non National Foreign Currency (NNFC) accounts at Commercial Bank now enjoy the unique convenience of being able to withdraw money from their accounts or verify balances from any part of the world through over 500,000 ATMs displaying the Cirrus logo. 

This has been made possible through the installation of a multi-currency software system to the bank's computer network. "This is a huge step forward in convenience for our NRFC account holders," Commercial Bank Managing Director Amitha Gooneratne said. "It will be particularly attractive because account holders can withdraw funds in a currency of their choice from wherever they are stationed." 

This facility was easy to adopt to because of Commercial Bank's tie-up with MasterCard International, Mr Gooneratne said. In addition to withdrawals through ATMs, holders of CAT cards could also make purchases at more than four million international merchant establishments through the Maestro Merchant Network, the world's first and largest on-line, real-time, PIN-based Point-of-Sale (POS) payment system. 

Commercial Bank's Deputy General Manager - Personal Banking Mr Ravi Dias said that when remittances are made to NRFC accounts from overseas, the account holder at times has to wait about three months to receive statements to check whether the money has been credited. 

"Using the CAT card will dramatically cut this waiting period, because balances now can be verified immediately through any Cirrus ATM." "We have applied technology to develop products, increasing customer choice and providing more alternatives to the traditional banking system," Mr Dias stressed. 

24 hours banking from Merc

Merc Bank will remain open 24 hours from Monday through Friday. It will be open from 11 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. on Saturdays. A special customer service desk will be in place to provide banking service post normal banking hours. 

Merc Bank's new offering is targeted at individuals who find it difficult to attend to their banking requirements during working hours, and business organisations that need to transact or deposit collections beyond the usual banking hours. Services provided initially will include acceptance of deposits, payment of cash, issue of inland drafts, issue of cheque books, acceptance of loan applications etc. These services will be further expanded over time to meet local demand. 

Merc Bank was launched in May 2000. In the past six months the Bank has introduced a basket of products that help customers maximise returns on savings, such as Merc Mega, Merc Float, Merc Sovereign and Merc Family.

Forbes & Walker first broker to get ISO 9002

The Certificate of Conformity for ISO 9002: 1994 issued to Forbes & Walker Tea Brokers covers Quality System, and certifies that the company is a model for quality assurance in production, installation and servicing. It covers the full gamut of broking functions performed by the company a news release said.

Forbes & Walker commenced tea broking in Sri Lanka in 1881, and has been one of the pioneers in the field.

Agromart to send farmers on Thai awareness tour

By Akhry Ameer 

Agromart annually awards as prize a fully sponsored intense market awareness tour of Thailand to the winners of the farmer competition conducted by the foundation. This competition is open to the members of the independent Agromart Production Societies spread throughout the island. The second and third prizewinners are taken on a similar intense local tour at no cost to them. Through this novel concept over 260 informal and independent societies have been formed through the years in 7 districts that Agromart operates in. Every year 12 new societies are added to the list as a result of this competition of which 80% are said to be active.

The competition is conducted by calling for applications from agricultural, livestock and small enterprises through the society network. The projects are then evaluated on the size of enterprise, community involvement, technology usage, entrepreneurship, knowledge of the market within the community and future plans for the enterprise. The foundation also helps the winners by providing further training and micro credit for their enterprises.

Past winners of this prize also shared their experiences, while 22 best entrepreneurs were recognized for their continued support and link with the foundation through special awards at the orientation programme. In the 11 years of this competition over 300 farmers have been sent to Thailand and 70% have succeeded in establishing their own enterprises. 

This awareness tour is sponsored by the Hivos and Novib agencies in Netherlands. 

The Agromart Foundation is an NGO currently operating in the Kurunegala, Galle, Matara, Ambalantota, Moneragala, Ampara and Chilaw districts with the objective of 'empowering rural communities through entrepreneurship'. 

The foundation carries on a continued relationship with the village fold by offering subject specific training at grass root level, market awareness programmes, entrepreneurship development training and economic literacy training focusing on book keeping, leadership, group cohesion, fundamental rights, democracy, etc. It also conducts an annual trade fair promoting competitiveness and commercial production standards among rural producers while providing them with commercial exposure.

In brief

Albert Edirisinghe expands 

CIMA - now you're talking 

CIMA Students Society has the privilege of choosing from a host of world-renowned phones with all the new tariff packages. 

During the recent years, CIMA Sri Lanka has grown exceptionally, now consisting of 2900 members and over 8000 students and passed finalists. Its membership now dominates senior management positions in finance and in commerce. 

CIMA Sri Lanka division is committed to keeping its members, students and other business managers updated on current issues and new thinking in all areas that influences business. CIMA has around 50,000 members and over 65,000 registered students in over135 countries worldwide. 

New wonder machine from Kodak 

The Kodak Picture Maker has many exciting features: One can add text and attractive borders to photographs, zoom in and crop, make stickers and picture cards and get an unlimited number of passport size prints without a negative. 

Among the other features are colour, brightness and density enhancement and output on to digital files. What is most exciting is the ability to restore photographs worn by time and the ability to perform all these functions without a negative. 

Kodak is marketed in Sri Lanka through its local business partner Millers Ltd. 

Diary

25th November: On Prevent Demotivation and Sustain Motivation at Auditorium Institute of Government Accounts and Finance. The seminar is to help Middle and Junior Managers in Finance Production, Marketing, Human Resource and support services to improve labour productivity in Sri Lankan Organisations . Facilitators: Mr.Jayadewa de Silva, Director Human Resource, Brown and Company Ltd and Mrs. Vajira Tirikawala the Vice President of Sri Lanka Association for Advancement of Quality and Productivity.

30th November: 8.30 a.m.-12.30 p.m. On the Potential for Investment in Agriculture in Sri Lanka at the Ground Floor Auditorium of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce The presentation is targeted at the business and farming communities, and the small and medium term entrepreneurs who are willing to enter into manufacturing of agri based products. Moderator: Mr. Senaka Abeyratne Chairman, CEO of the National Agri Business Council. 

Workshop on "Building Skills for Secretaries"

The interactive training programme is aimed at personal secretaries, Personal assistants, Confidential secretaries, receptionists and Front office staff. 

Workshop facilitators. Dr, Travis Perera Phd. An engineer by profession, he has a MBA with a merit from the university of Sri Jayawardenapura, He is also a fellow of the Sri Lanka Institute of Training and Development and the Director of studies of the institute. He also serves as a Visiting lecturer in Human resource Management for the MSc in Management Course at the University of Sri Jayawardenapura. He has nearly twenty-five years of executive and senior management experience in the private sector. He currently coordinates the MBA Programme at the Postgraduate Institute of Management.A Joseph is the President of The Sri Lanka Institute of Training and Development. Consultant in Human Resource Management and Development to several public and private sector organizations. He conducted several workshops and Seminars for Secretaries in Colombo and Kandy . Regularly co-ordinates and facilitates the "Advance Secretarial Course" conducted by the FCCISL and the Ceylon National Chamber of Industries and Commerce. He was also the Director of Studies of the Institute of Personal Management and a Fellow of the Institute of Training and Development. For further details contact @ Administrative Secretary, Centre for Human Resources Development. Tel: 865772,878622

Craft Supplies: an array of choices

By Murali Jayadeva

Founder-Chairman Sumith Gunaratne says the company has gone through many trials in its formative years. But he adds that he is happy about the achievements of the company so far. 

He stated that the company's success was due largely to the high quality maintained throughout the manufacturing process ensuring the highest durability and aesthetic quality.

Kishan Gunaratne, the son, now heads the company with the senior Gunaratne playing an advisory role. Kishan who has vast exposure to the west and a sound marketing background is out to woo the public with an array of affordable furniture that will please as well as serve the functional needs of the common man.

Kishan has plans to offer wrought-iron furniture mixed with a variety of glass and wood designs, which is very much in vogue today. 

He also has plans to offer accessories such as kitchen utensils, upholstery and furnishing material, which will complement the many creations available at Craft Supplies.

The ultimate goal, according to Kishan is to provide a one-stop-shop furniture solution for its growing customer base as well as existing customers.

Weekend interest by Nations Trust Bank

"As the first bank that went public with the concept of 'In Store Banking', we are happy to take the lead in another customer friendly initiative," says Anura Gunasekera, Chief Executive Officer.

However, these terms will not apply on cheques deposited as the bank will be unable to collect funds until the cheques have cleared. Furthermore, only non-corporate customers are eligible. "Our objective is to create a paradigm shift in customer habits and make outside normal hours banking both profitable and convenient to customers," says Ifthikar Ahamed, AGM Private Banking and Treasury.

Interest credits over non-working days makes banking with NTB a touch more sweeter. With five In Store Banking units situated in supermarkets, and with more planned next year, the bank has the infrastructure in place to create a paradigm shift in consumer habits.

"The challenge for bankers," adds Ahamed, "is to be available when the customers need us. The ability for customers to do their banking and groceries under one roof is a significant step in this direction. This complemented with electronic channels including automated teller machines, phone banking and Internet banking means banks such as Nations Trust can meet their customer needs 24-hours a day".

"Our customers are increasingly becoming more sophisticated and demanding in their needs," says Gunasekera. "The start ahead is to maintain our status as a pace setter".

O'Brien new CFO for DDB

O'Brien, 38, has been a Director of Worldwide Finance at DDB since 1998. He was previously the CFO at two DDB subsidiaries: Griffin Bacal from 1996 to 1998 and the Focus Agency from 1994 to 1996.

In his new position, O'Brien will work closely with North American and North Asia Regional Management, Office Presidents and CFOs on financial, client and operational matters. As CFO of North Asia, he succeeds Steve Burton who was recently named Chief Operating Officer of DDB Latin America.

DDB is the 2nd largest advertising agency in the United States and the 3rd agency worldwide. The agency has 206 offices in 99 countries and is acknowledged as the industry's most creative multinational network, based on its dominance of advertising award competitions.

Bairaha reaches 25

The company has many firsts to its name. Among them are: pioneering the processing of hygienically packed, quality frozen and chilled chicken by setting up the most advanced chicken processing factory equipped with processing and cold-storage plant and machinery from Europe; established the first automated and advanced breeder poultry farm using hi-tech plant and machinery from Europe; and established hundreds of out-grower farms in 1986 on contract providing employment to many

The company has also successfully operated a chain of supermarkets in the Colombo and the suburbs. The Bairaha Group also launched its own brand of pre-cooked meat range recently. The range includes chicken sausages, meatballs and chicken sandwich slices.

Top plantations in Oil Palm joint venture

Three enterprising plantation companies; Elpitiya Plantations Limited managed by Aitken Spence Plantation Managements Limited, Namunukula Plantations Limited, managed by Keells Plantations Management Services (Private) Limited, and Agalawatte Plantations Limited, managed by Mackwoods Plantations (Private) Limited recently concluded a joint venture agreement to cultivate and process Palm oil. 

The three companies will jointly set up a processing factory, which is expected to be operational by the year 2003. 

The cultivation of Oil Palm will broad base the crop mix of these three plantation companies and will make the better positioned to optimise on the business cycles applicable to different plantation crops.

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