Category: Markets
COVID-19 Outbreak to have significant economic impact on developing Asia: ADB
Mar 10, 2020 (LBO) – The ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak will have a significant impact on developing Asian economies through numerous channels, including sharp declines in domestic demand, lower tourism and business travel, trade and production linkages, supply disruptions, and health effects, according to a new analysis by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The […]
COVID-19 outbreak likely to affect Sri Lanka’s economic performance : Central Bank
Mar 05, 2020 (LBO) – The exact impact on the Sri Lankan Economy would depend on the extent of the global spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, its persistence and policy responses of major economies and trading partners, the Central Bank said. “Sri Lanka’s economic links with China could be directly affected as significant volumes of […]
Policy interest rates of Central Bank of Sri Lanka to remain unchanged
Mar 05, 2020 (LBO) – The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, at its meeting held on 04 March 2020, decided to maintain the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of the Central Bank at their current levels of 6.50 percent and 7.50 percent, respectively, and […]
Securities and Exchange Commission DG removed with immediate effect
Mar 02, 2020 (LBO) – Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Director General (DG) Vajira Wijegunawardane, appointed in 2015 with an overall service to the SEC for 13 years has been removed from the post with immediate effect. The decision to remove Wijegunawardane was by the Commissioners of the SEC SEC Director Litigation Chinthaka Mendis has […]
Central Bank to introduce cost-reflective benchmark interest rate instead of SLIBOR
Feb 24, 2020 (LBO) – The Monetary Board of Sri Lanka’s Central Bank has decided to discontinue the compilation of SLIBOR with effect from 01 July 2020. The Central Bank will continue to publish SLIBOR based on offered rates submitted by LCBs until 30 June 2020, in order to prevent inconvenience to any participant in […]
FCR upgrades ASPI target for December to 7,500 amidst added boost to economy
Feb 19, 2020 (LBO) – With the recovery in economic activity and company earnings, First Capital Research (FCR) expects an upward trend in the capital market supported by stronger market multiples. Launching the Strategy Report 2020, Head of Research at the First Capital Holdings, Dimantha Mathew said that the heavy tax cuts and the policy […]
SEC commences series of meetings with capital market stakeholders
Feb 19, 2020 (LBO) – Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka has commenced a series of meetings with capital market stakeholders to discuss issues in general and to obtain views with regard to the prevalent regulatory framework and the development of the capital market of the country. The newly appointed Chairman of the Securities […]
HNB Finance IPO oversubscribed on opening day
Feb 17, 2020 (LBO) – HNB Finance Limited’s initial public offering through an offer for sale of 10 million ordinary voting shares at 5.70 rupees per share was successfully oversubscribed on the opening date. As per the section 4.2.8 of the prospectus and introductory document, applications dispatched by courier or by post to registrars to […]
HNB Finance first IPO since January 2018
HNB Finance Limited, a licensed finance company has obtained approval from the Colombo Stock Exchange to list its voting and non-voting ordinary shares. The ordinary voting shares will be listed by way of an IPO via an Offer for Sale of 10mn shares at a price of Rs. 5.70 per share while the ordinary non-voting […]
Sri Lanka economy on the mend in 2020 : Will look at new IMF deal
Feb 11, 2020 (LBO) – A revival in economic activity can be expected in 2020 with the support of better fiscal and monetary measures with Sri Lanka also looking at a fresh deal with the IMF, a senior official said. Speaking at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Outlook launch for 2020 the Central Bank […]
Sri Lanka official reserves at USD7.5bn by end January
Feb 07, 2020 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s gross official reserves were 7.5 billion US dollars (USD7,526mn) by the end of January, down from 7.6 billion US dollars in December, the latest Central Bank data showed. By the end of January, the foreign currency reserves were 6,516.2 million dollars while the reserve position in the IMF […]
Ceylon Dollar Bond Fund delivers 10.3-pct dollar return in 2019
Feb 06, 2020 (LBO) – The Ceylon Dollar Bond Fund that invests exclusively in the Sri Lankan government issued International Sovereign Bonds (ISB), and SLDBs reported a strong US$ performance of 10.3 percent in 2019 to investors. The January 2020 performance was 1.03 percent (annualised 12.18%) while the fund size reached 23 million US dollars […]