Category: Featured
LankaPay, JCB International announce commercial roll-out of National card scheme
Oct 16, 2019 (LBO) – LankaClear (Pvt) Limited, the operator of LankaPay, Sri Lanka’s National payment network, together with JCB International Co., Ltd. , the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co., Ltd., announced the commercial roll-out of National Card Scheme (NCS) programme of Sri Lanka, after successfully completing the pilot stage since the announcement of […]
Sri Lanka hosts first meeting of mangrove ecosystems and livelihood action group
Oct 16, 2019 (LBO) – The first meeting of the mangrove ecosystems and livelihood action group (MELAG) under the Commonwealth blue charter, was held recently in Negombo, Sri Lanka. During the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting 2018 held in London, realizing the importance of mangroves, at a time when Sri Lanka is ranked as No. […]
SL should prepare implementable electricity generation plans: Nishan de Mel
Oct 15, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should prepare implementable and consistent electricity generation plans incorporating PESTAL factors, global trends and policy changes, without focusing only on the technical mix of the electricity generation, an economist said. “I think we misunderstand the problem of planning. We think that planning is simply an act of getting […]
Sri Lanka CB maintains policy rates unchanged
Oct 11, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Monetary Board has 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 7.00 percent and 8.00 percent, respectively. The Board arrived at this decision following a careful analysis of current and expected […]
EU provides Euro 40Mn to strengthening transformation, reconciliation
Oct 10, 2019 (LBO) – The European Union (EU) is providing 40 million euros to Sri Lanka to co-finance the “Strengthening Transformation, Reconciliation and Inclusive Democratic Engagement” (STRIDE) project. Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga, secretary to the Treasury at the Ministry of Finance, signed the financing agreement with Tung-Lai Margue, ambassador of the Delegation of the European […]
Sri Lanka unemployment up in Q2 2019
Oct 09, 2019 (LBO) – T h e n u m b e r o f unemployed persons in Sri Lanka is estimated as 420,231 or 4.9 percent during the second quarter 2019, a new report shows. Data from the state statistics office shows that this is a rise of 0.4 percent from the same […]
Sri Lanka needs consistent energy policy to attract investors: Prof Samarajiva
Oct 09, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is in the need of consistent and solid policies in order to attract investors and planned infrastructure framework which should not be changed from government to government, a regulatory expert said. “Infrastructure should not have politics associated with it. Because governments come and governments go but it takes […]
Sri Lanka tourist arrivals down 27-pct in Sep 2019
Oct 07, 2019 (LBO) – The total number of tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka during September 2019 was 108,575, down from 149,087 visitors or 27.2 percent from the same period last year. In September almost 98 percent of tourists travelled by air to the island. As at 30th September 2019, 1,376,312 of tourists had visited […]
Cinnamon’s 15th property, Velifushi Maldives opens
Oct 07, 2019 (LBO) – Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts, the leisure arm of John Keells Holdings continues expansion with the opening of its newest hotel, Cinnamon Velifushi Maldives. The opening of the new resort on the island of Aarahveli is the fourth property added to its portfolio in the Maldives, and the 15th to its […]
Esala Weerakoon approved as next secretary-general SAARC
Oct 07, 2019 (LBO) – The informal meeting of the council of ministers of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) held in New York last week has approved the nomination of former Foreign Secretary and senior career diplomat Esala Weerakoon, to be the 14th Secretary General of the association. The office will come […]
Access Engineering buys warehouse -logistics firm for Rs.925Mn
Oct 03, 2019 (LBO) – Access Engineering PLC has bought 100 percent stake of WUS Logistics Ltd. The shares were bought at for 925 million rupees, the company said in a stock exchange filing. “W.U.S. Logistics owns a land of 41.5 acres in Kimbulapitiya to be used for warehousing purposes,” it added.
Sri Lanka tea prices down in first nine months of 2019
Oct 03, 2019 (LBO) – All elevations show a negative variance January-September 2019 compared with January-September 2018 and high growns show the largest deficit of Rs. 63.37 YOY, a report shows. National average for the month of September 2019 totalled Rs. 511.31 compared with Rs. 506.86 of August 2019 showing a marginal increase of Rs. 04.42 month […]