Economic

Penalty on tax in default to be written off if dues as at 31 December 2020 settled in full by 31 March 2022

මෙවර කජු අස්වැන්න සියයට 40කින් පමණ පහළ වැටීම නිසා කජු වගාකරුවන් දැඩි අසීරුතාවයට පත්ව සිටිති.

ASPI ends almost flat after spike in first 40 minutes of trading; S&P manages to gain by only 0.8%
Investor sentiment and activity lacklustre as turnover hits a two-week low

Sri Lanka Tourism Chairperson Kimarli Fernando yesterday commended the Government on its accelerated vaccination program with over five million jabs to date, noting that the inoculation of all citizens would help put the country back on the map of prospective holiday makers.

SriLankan Airlines yesterday clarified news reports stating that SriLankan Airlines suffered a mid-air fuel shortage as being inaccurate. Following is the statement issued by the airline:

වෙළඳපලේ සීනි මිල තවදුරටත් ඉහළ යාමේ අවදානමක් මතුව තිබෙනවා. ඒ, ඉකුත් දින 10 තුළ සීනි කිලෝ ග්‍රෑම් 01 ක තොග මිල රුපියල් 25 කින් පමණ ඉහළ ගොස් ඇති පසුබිමක් තුළයි. මේවනවිට වෙළඳපලේ සීනි කිලෝවක සිල්ලර මිල ද රුපියල් 135 සීමාව ඉක්මවා ගොස් තිබෙනවා.

Says an independent Finance Minister can lead the way for better management of public finances

So far $ 458 m attracted since SDAs were introduced in April last year

The Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG) has moved into top gear to accelerate the progress of its industrial park, combining its latest concept ‘HIPG Speed’ into the port’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).

Issues over the gold import licence scheme remain unresolved, but industry and officials are hopeful of a swift resolution ahead of a meeting with new Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa this week.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government yesterday signed loan agreements for $ 150 million under the Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility (APVAX) for the procurement of vaccines and other related consumables.

A Bill to amend the National Minimum Wage for private sector employees was discussed at the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Labour chaired by Minister of Labour Nimal Siripala de Silva yesterday.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has kicked off the second phase of the highly beneficial digitalisation of the stock market an initiative jointly championed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) and the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE).

The Central Bank yesterday announced ways and means of how Sri Lankan companies can invest in International Sovereign Bonds of the Government in the secondary market.

The jewellery industry yesterday labelled the import licensing scheme unfair and has urged for its removal or postponement, so as to encourage foreign exchange income, after the Cabinet of Ministers on Monday decided to bring gold under the import licensing scheme.

තැන්පත්කරුවන්ගේ රුපියල් කෝටි ගණනක මුදලක් වංචා කළ එදිරිසිංහ පවුලට අයත් දේපළ වහාම රජයට පවරා ගන්නා ලෙස ඊ.ටී.අයි. තැන්පත්කරුවන්ගේ සංගමය ඉල්ලා සිටියි.

The Monetary Board has decided to keep policy rates unchanged at its meeting this week, a stance consistently maintained since the last revision in July 2020.

The Bill containing the new tax amnesty will be out soon and presented to Parliament to give legal effect, the Government announced yesterday.