Category: Industry
Good Marks
Mar. 17 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Finance Company Ltd., picked up a A+(sri) credit rating from Fitch Ratings Lanka Ltd for their senior unsecured long-term debt, the agency said Friday. While an A (sri) rating indicates low credit risk, Central Finance is still vulnerable to external changes like shifts in macro economic conditions, Fitch […]
Brand Bible
Mar. 17 (LBO) — Sri Lanka’s top brands, from tea to popular ayurvedic balms could get a listing in a global catalogue of super-brands, by September this year.A global body set up to recognise brands, Superbrands is in over 50 countries, giving selected companies a host of promotional benefits. About 600 local and international brands […]
Sri Lanka splashes US$ 1 mn to lure Indian holidaymakers
Mar 17 (LBO) — Sri Lanka will launch a US$ 1 million ad campaign into India on Saturday, to entice travelers from Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore to come experience the island. -Zainab Ibrahim: zainab@ The country, famed for its beaches, cultural tourism and wildlife holidays, is selling on its diversity and its close proximity off […]
Direct Link
Mar. 16 (LBO) – Deutsche Bank AG’s Colombo branch plans to scale up its presence here by luring big corporates and multinationals to use their state of the art cash management and electronic banking system. “We have no plans to do retail banking in Sri Lanka. But we want to grow our business by focusing […]
Done Deal
Mar 15 (LBO) – The Treasury inked a deal with China National Machinery and Equipment Corporation on Wednesday, to build a US$ 455 million power plant in Norachcholai. Two decades overdue, the 300 megawatt plant as well as supporting infrastructure will be entirely funded by the Chinese government, Ranjith Fonseka, General Manager for the sole […]
Extra Support
Mar. 14 (LBO) – The International Finance Corp. said Tuesday that they have tied up with four Sri Lankan banks to increase access to finance small and medium enterprises (SME) in the island. IFC, the private sector lending arm of the World Bank, hopes the partnership with Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank of Ceylon, Hatton National […]
Expensive Chat
Mar. 13 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s two private wireless local loop telecom operators have been called up to pay around Rs. 400 million as duties for importing handsets, industry officials said. Last month, the island’s Board of Investment (BOI) slapped a 33 percent import duty on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) handsets with immediate effect. […]
Basic Pay
Mar13. (LBO) — Sri Lanka™s public sector unions are threatening a 24hour strike later this week as a dispute over a proposed pay hike continues.Essential health services will not be disrupted in the midnight-to-midnight 24 hour strike scheduled to begin Mach 15. The consortium of trade unions joining forces to form the Public Sector Salary […]
Digital Actuaries
Mar13. (LBO) — Sri Lanka’s accountants have come up with a digital solution to combat the shortage of actuaries in the country. The solution involves the use of a standard model, which uses minimal subjective judgments and can be calculated on a software like Microsoft’s Office Excell. The acute shortage of actuaries in Sri Lanka […]
Safe Passage
Mar. 13 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will push for an open skies agreement with India, on the sidelines of trade talks in May to liberalise service sectors of both countries.Both sides are finalising positions for talks on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), with areas like shipping, tourism and financial services also making the list. […]
Hot Potatoes
Mar. 11 (LBO) – Vanaspati, pepper and haggling over negative lists has pushed back trade talks between India and Sri Lanka on liberalising its service sectors, to May.The next round of negotiations under the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the two countries was to be held at the end of March. “There are few […]
Wider Base
Mar.10 (Dow Jones)–Sri Lanka’s Softlogic Holdings Ltd.said Friday it has bought the consumer electronics and automobiles units of diversified Uniwalkers Ltd. as part of an expansion plan. “This is a part of our strategy to diversify, expand our operations and increase annual turnover levels,” said Ashok Pathirage, the company’s chairman. He declined to disclose the […]