Economic

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) yesterday, in a statement, denied reports to the effect that the monetary regulatory had asked commercial banks to devalue the rupee with immediate effect.

The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce yesterday said it expected a “tight” Budget 2022 given the tough macro conditions consequent to the ongoing pandemic and its impact on the economy.

2021 ජුලි මාසය අවසන් වනවිට ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහබැංකුව සතු විදේශ විනිමය සංචිතය ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 2364.6ක් දක්වා පහළ බැස ඇති බව වාර්තා වේ.

The Government has decided to expand the Ceylon Tea Global Promotion Program offering financial support to include private brands as well.

Hatton National Bank (HNB PLC) continued to demonstrate resilience amidst volatile conditions, posting a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of Rs 10.9 Bn and a Profit After Tax (PAT) of Rs 9.1 Bn. The Group profits also improved in line, with PBT and PAT at Rs 12 Bn and Rs 9.8 Bn respectively.

National ratings on Sri Lankan banks remain constrained by the sovereign credit profile (CCC), Fitch Ratings said yesterday.

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) said yesterday that it had showcased a strong growth trajectory in capital raised by Sri Lankan corporates of all scales during the first seven months of 2021.

Abans PLC has reported a commendable performance in Q1 FY22 despite the pandemic-induced economic slow-down intensified by a month-long island wide lockdown. Abans generated revenue of Rs. 10.6 billion in Q1 FY22 against Rs. 6.7 billion in Q1 of previous year.

The Central Bank said yesterday that workers’ remittances declined in June 2021 year-on-year though they were up in the first half in comparison to the corresponding period of last year.

කොවිඩ් වසංගත තත්වය හමුවේ ඕනෑම ව්‍යාපාරිකයෙකුට සිය අභිමතය පරිදි ව්‍යාපාරික ස්ථානය වසා දැමිය හැකි බව වෙළද අමාත්‍ය බන්දුල ගුණවර්ධන මහතා පවසනවා. කෙසේ නමුත් අත්‍යවශ්‍ය සේවා අඛණ්ඩව පත්වාගෙන යාමේ අරමුණින් පි‍ටකොටුව තොග වෙළඳාම් සහ බෙදාහැරීම් කිසිදු හේතුවක් මත නතර නොකරන බවයි ඇමතිවරයා පවසන්නේ.

The country’s manufacturing and services sectors expanded in July according to the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) compiled by the Central Bank.

Sri Lanka’s trade deficit in the first half has widened by over $ 1 billion to $ 4.3 billion from a year earlier on account of rising imports, though exports have performed commendably.

The Supreme Court has suggested certain amendments to the proposed Finance Bill which seeks to grant tax amenities and indemnify persons who voluntarily disclose taxable supply, income, or assets, against liability from investigation, prosecution, and penalties.

Sampath Bank on Friday said it has posted a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs. 7 billion for the first half of 2021, against Rs. 3.9 billion for the same period in 2020.

In a bid to overcome the LP gas crisis, the Government has decided to establish a new firm affiliated to the State-run Ceylon Petroleum Cooperation (CPC).

The Government has declared three additional bank holidays for next year. An extraordinary gazette notification declaring the three bank holidays — 2 May, 10 October and 26 December – was issued on Monday. These three days have been declared in addition to the existing bank holidays for 2022.

The Government is facilitating the import of gold for “genuine” export-oriented jewellery manufacturers whilst continuing with the licencing scheme for others, it has been revealed.

The Colombo stock market yesterday suffered one of its steepest falls in recent weeks despite healthy turnover.