Category: General Services
Sri Lanka tea exports up in Nov 2019
Jan 02, 2020 (LBO) – Sri Lanka tea exports for November 2019 totalled 21.9 M/kgs, showing a marginal gain of 0.6 M/kgs vis-à-vis 21.3 M/kgs of November 2018, a new report showed. Packeted tea has shown a growth YOY, whilst bulk tea has remained static, Forbes and Walker Tea Brokers said in their monthly report. […]
Inland Revenue Dept. issues the list of VAT registration deactivated persons
Jan 01, 2020 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Inland Revenue Department has published the complete list of persons & businesses whose taxable supply has never exceeded 75 million rupees for any taxable period ended prior to 31 December 2019. Such inactivated persons are not permitted to collect VAT on the supplies made on or after today […]
Fitch revises Outlook on Sri Lanka Telecom to Negative; affirms at AA+
Dec 23, 2019 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlook on Sri Lanka Telecom PLC’s (SLT) National Long-Term Rating to Negative from Stable and affirmed the rating at ‘AA+(lka)’. They have also affirmed the National Ratings on SLT’s outstanding senior unsecured debentures at ‘AA+(lka)’. The rating action follows Fitch’s revision of the Outlook on […]
Opinion: Paving way towards safer Sri Lanka for women and girls
(UNFPA) – Violence against women and girls is one of the most prevalent human rights violations in the world. The costs of violence are extremely high and include direct costs to the country as well as the untold cost inflicted on survivors and their communities for generations to come. Putting an end to this grave […]
Government directs banks to suspend recovery of SME loans
Dec 20, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Finance Ministry says the government has issued directives to Chairmen and CEOs of all banks to suspend the recovery of loans obtained by the SME sector. Finance Ministry statement President, PM direct all banks to suspend recovery of SME loans President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa […]
President appoints tech-studded ICTA board to drive digital Sri Lanka
Dec 20, 2019 (LBO) – In line with his vision for a Sri Lanka driven by technology, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed a tech-studded board for the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA). Steering the board as Chairman is Jayantha De Silva, Co-Founder of IFS Sri Lanka, the country’s first FDI-funded technology […]
Opinion: Gender dimension of remittances to Sri Lanka: Who remits more?
Bilesha Weeraratne Remittances are often considered a stable and a reliable source of development financing. In 2018, remittances to Sri Lanka totaled to USD 7.015 billion. At the macro level, the contribution of remittances to the Sri Lankan economy is immense. In 2018, remittances accounted for 7.8 % of the GDP, and could cover 59% […]
Singapore fashion platform buys Lankan software firm nCinga for USD15.5mn
Dec 17, 2019 (LBO) – Singapore-based fashion platform Zilingo has acquired Sri Lanka-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) firm nCinga Innovations for 15.5 million dollars in cash and stock, marking one of the largest tech exits in Sri Lanka in recent times, foreign media reported. nCinga, which is backed by Sri Lanka and Singapore-based venture capital firm BOV […]
Sri Lanka economy boosted after election by local investor activity: ICRA
Dec17, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s overview activities in the economy improved post presidential election driven by positive sentiments from the local investors, a rating agency said. “Bourse saw gains especially in manufacturing, trading, power & energy, and beverage, food, & tobacco sectors,” ICRA Lanka Limited, subsidiary of ICRA limited, a group company of Moody’s […]
Tax reduction allows Sri Lankan traders to import wheat flour instead of wheat grain
Dec 16, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government has removed the consolidated Tax of 36 rupees per kilogram of imported wheat flour and replaced it with the Special Commodity Levy (SCL) of 8 rupees per kilogram. This Special Commodity Levy will come into effect from December 14th through a special Gazette notification issued by Prime […]
Sri Lanka to review process adopted to revise original scope of Colombo Financial City
Dec 12, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s cabinet nod has been received to appoint an expert committee to look into the process adopted by the previous government to revise the original scope of the Colombo Financial City. With the help of external consultants and the Legal Draftsman, a Bill has already been drafted to establish […]
The new oil of the 21st century: Sri Lanka’s need for data scientists
Malitha Goonaratne In 2012, the Harvard Business Review named being a ‘data scientist’ the “The Sexiest Job of the 21st Century”. If that is not appealing enough, it is estimated that by 2020, there will be 40 trillion gigabytes (40 zettabytes) of data created. In comparison, in 2018 there were 18 trillion gigabytes (18 zettabytes) […]