Category: Featured
”s rating to negative from stable
June 20, 2016 (LBO) – Moody’s Investors Service has today affirmed the government of Sri Lanka’s foreign currency issuer and senior unsecured sovereign ratings at B1 and changed the outlook to negative from stable. Two key drivers underpin the change in outlook to negative from stable, Moody’s Investors Service said. 1) Our expectation of a further weakening in […]
Interview: PickMe has 4,000 vehicles on road, expands to Kandy
Jun 20, 2016 (LBO) – ‘PickMe,’ Sri Lanka’s own mobile taxi hailing solutions provider, says they have close to 4,000 vehicles on the road, with over 2,000 three wheelers, one thousand mini cars, and the rest categorized as sedan cars and vans. The startup, which successfully raised capital in three rounds of funding, has now […]
Sri Lanka port city becomes financial city, new deal by August: PM
June 17, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s port city construction will be converted to a financial city with a new agreement which is expected to be signed by August with the China Harbour Engineering Company, the Premier said. Officially announcing the lifting of EU fishing ban, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the port city land […]
Meeting IMF criteria key to improve ratings: Fitch Ratings
June 17, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka still needs to refinance close to 3 billion US dollars for the rest of 2016 and remains vulnerable to shifts in investor sentiment, Fitch Ratings said. Delivering a presentation at a forum, Associate Director of Fitch APAC Sovereigns Sagarika Chandra emphasized that progress on IMF program criteria will […]
Sri Lanka CDS to introduce electronic voting and IPO facility this year
June 16, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Depository Systems is looking forward to introduce a fully-fledged electronic IPO and voting system during this year. During an interview, Head of CDS, Nalin Fonseka said the E-IPO system will facilitate inward and outward payments from investors efficiently and will offer other benefits such as facilitation of […]
Sri Lanka GDP expands 5.5-pct in first quarter 2016
June 15, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economy expanded 5.5 percent in the first quarter of 2016 from a year earlier, led by industry and services, the state statistics office said. In the first quarter of 2016, gross domestic product reached up to 2,088,024 million rupees against 1,978,609 million rupees recorded first quarter of 2015. […]
Italian firm mulls Tyre manufacturing in Sri Lanka with USD75mn
June 15, 2016 (LBO) – An Italian firm has sought BOI approval to set up a radial and industrial Tyre manufacturing and retreading plant in Horana area as a joint project with the Ceylon Steel Corporation. The 100 acres of land which will be acquired through the UDA is to be allocated to Ceylon Steel […]
Sri Lanka cabinet approves reintroduction of capital gains tax
Jun 15, 2016 (LBO) – The cabinet committee on economic management has agreed to reintroduce the capital gains tax (CGT) to rectify the increase in the inequality of income distribution, a cabinet proposal said. “The cabinet also approved to draft a new capital gains tax regime,” it said. During the last few decades there has been a […]
Sri Lanka’s NBT should be abolished, minimal exemptions for VAT: IMF
June 15, 2016 (LBO) – International Monetary Fund’s latest staff report has suggested that Sri Lanka should minimize the exemptions provided under the Value Added Tax system, while abolishing the Nation Building Tax. The report has highlighted that the country needs an appropriate registration threshold and the degree of base erosion should be reviewed. Sri […]
Sri Lanka promises to reform Airline, public sector, fuel pricing to IMF
June 15, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has committed to reforming government finances and the public sector, in its letter of intent to the International Monetary Fund. Structural benchmarks include a “resolution strategy” for SriLankan Airlines by September 2016, in which it will take the loss-making airline off its books. Other reforms include enhancing oversight […]
Sri Lanka must get finances in order: IMF
June 14, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka needs to put its fiscal house in order, the International Monetary Fund said, revealing details of the 1.5 billion dollar 36-month support programme. “There is a clear need to put tax revenues on an upward path as part of a growth-friendly phase of fiscal consolidation and debt reduction,” […]
IFC looks to fund Sri Lanka infrastructure, tourism and energy
Jun 13, 2016 (LBO) – The International Finance Corporation, a part of the World Bank group, said they are focusing on financing financially viable projects in Sri Lanka, and highlighted potential areas such as infrastructure, tourism, agribusiness, energy and also finance. “The project IFC gets involved should be viable and also should have a development […]