Author: lbostgadmin
SriLankan Airlines adds Lahore as 100th destination
Sep 27, 2016 (LBO) – SriLankan Airlines said they would commence services between Lahore in Pakistan and Colombo from 27th September 2016, to enhance its focus on Asia. “This is an important step in our strategy of increasing our focus on Asia, from the Middle East in the west to China and Japan in the […]
Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank kicks off operations in Maldives
Sep 26, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank of Ceylon today started operations of its subsidiary in Male, Maldives, the bank said in a stock exchange filing. Commercial Bank of Maldives private limited is a fully-fledged banking subsidiary which is set up in partnership with a Maldivian company. The bank last year said the […]
POLL: CB to stand pat this wk, assessing impact of previous hikes
Sept 26, 2016 (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s central bank is expected to keep its key interest rates steady on Wednesday, after cutting three times since December to fend off pressure on the fragile rupee currency and curb accelerating credit growth that has pushed up inflation. All 13 economists surveyed in a Reuters poll expect the central bank to keep its […]
Finance Ministry says merchants will pay lower VAT despite hike
Sep 26, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Finance Ministry says retail and wholesale merchants will have to pay a lower VAT payment than expected despite the rate hike from 11 to 15 percent. Under the proposed VAT amendment bill, the VAT will really be charged only on the revenue accumulated on the sale of VAT liable […]
Sri Lankan rupee slips on seasonal importer dollar demand
COLOMBO, Sept 26 (Reuters) – The Sri Lankan rupee ended weaker on Monday as seasonal demand for dollar from importers exceeded sales by exporters and banks, dealers said. The spot-next forwards, which were actively traded, ended at 146.38/48 per dollar, edging down from Friday’s close of 146.30/40. One-week forwards were at 146.50/68, weaker from Friday’s […]
Sri Lanka eyes FTA and increased funding from South Korea
Sept 26, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is interested in entering into a Free Trade Agreement with South Korea in the future, a senior minister revealed. International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama in a recent visit to Korea has conveyed Sri Lanka’s interest on an FTA to Korean Vice Minister of Trade. The Sri Lankan embassy […]
Opinion: Rajagiriya flyover, for whose benefit?
By Commuter Commuters on Sri Jayewardenepura Mawatha are currently circumnavigating a construction site in the middle of the road in Rajagiriya. The site – and therefore the circumnavigation – appears to be getting longer by the day. The signboard put up by RDA at the side of the road indicates that the flyover under construction […]
Infrastructure: Friction free inter-agency cooperation key, says PUCSL DG
Sep 26, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka needs mechanisms and skills to manage multiple agency involvement in order to ensure the proper and timely implementation of its planned mega infrastructure projects, a senior official said. “There is multiple agency involvement in managing infrastructure projects. We have implementation agencies involvement like land, environment, regulatory and local […]
Dubai hotel chief among speakers at Asia Hotel Conference
Sept 26, 2016 (LBO) – The Chairman of the World Travel and Tourism Council, Gerald Lawless, will share his knowledge of building Dubai as a destination, as well as one of the world’s best-known luxury brands, Jumeirah Group, when he addresses the inaugural Asia Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference (AHTIC) in Colombo in November. The […]
Overseas Realty to raise Rs7.3bn in rights issue for Havelock City
Sept 26, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Overseas Realty is to raise 7.3 billion rupees by way of a rights issue, the company said in a stock exchange filing. The company is to issue 355 million new ordinary shares at 20.50 rupees each in the ratio of two new shares for every five shares held. […]
Fund flows into emerging markets at three-year high
Sept 26, 2016 (LBO) – After cash outflows over the last few years, money flowing back into emerging markets has hit a three-year high. Investors have chanelled more than 9 billion dollars into emerging market funds and the benchmark MSCI emerging market fund is up nearly 15 percent, CNBC reported. In a recent note to […]
Asian shares slip, U.S. presidential debate awaited
TOKYO, Sept 26 (Reuters) – Asian shares began the week under a cloud on Monday after losses on Wall Street, as investors’ attention turned from central banks to American politics ahead of the first U.S. presidential debate. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.1 percent in early trade, while Japan’s Nikkei […]