Top investment bank UBS has issued a warning on Sri Lankan economy lowering the 2012 growth rate to 6% and suggesting a degree of overheating in addition to hinting interest rates going up, further pressure on exchange rate, interest rate and Budget deficit. The report exposes some of the mistakes made in the recent past ...

The Secretary of Defence and Urban Development Gotabaya Rajapaksa was invited as a Guest of the Government of Japan in order to interact with the key political leaders, senior technocrats and cabinet ministers. Secretary Rajapaksa, on the day before he left to Colombo, met Minister of Education, Culture, Sports , Science and Technology Hirofumi Hirano; ...

By Firdous Syed DNA India: There seems to be no moral justification behind the United States-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council. The massacre of ‘40,000 civilians’ and continued persecution of Tamils is a fit case for international censure; even an international intervention could be justified. That the US, motivated, or ...

By Cheranka Mendis While Sri Lanka’s largest mega trade, investment and tourism promotion initiative ‘Expo 2012’ has been welcomed by stakeholders as a timely affair, stallholders shared mixed feelings on the order of the show. Some were elated having received inquires just two days into the event, while others expressed disappointment with regard to the ...

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children, as the Native American proverb goes. It is with this philosophy in mind that Jetwing Hotels will be participating in the Earth Hour campaign on 31 March. Jetwing will be the first Sri Lankan hotel chain to do so and ...

By Cheranka Mendis Even if the status of the world economy seems to have found a rather fragile equilibrium with Europe over the past six weeks, the world is no closer to being immune from the risks that have cropped up as a result of the European and USA led recession and changes in world ...

UAE businessmen are rushing to Sri Lanka as the country opens up its doors for competitive trade. More than 50 business personnel from Dubai and other emirates are camping in Sri Lankan to explore business opportunities. President Mahinda Rajapaksa inaugurated Expo 2012, where over 370 exporters are showcasing a wide array of goods and services. ...

Denying accusations that the Ceylon Electricity Board is a burden on the national economy, Minister of Power and Energy Champika Ranawaka points out its contribution towards the country’s development and claims the staggering loss of $ 42 billion predicted for 2012 was mainly due to the fuel price hike and rupee depreciation. Following are excerpts ...

Veteran banker Eastman Narangoda today stepped down as Chairman of Seylan Bank after a record-making three year tenure at its helm. Making the announcement at the Bank’s AGM yesterday Narangoda cited “personal reasons” for his decision. Appointed as Chairman of Seylan Bank PLC on 30 December 2008, Eastman Narangoda was a key figure who instrumented ...

With the recent relaxing of the rupee exchange rate and subsequent increase in fuel prices, trade unions and the opposition parties are conducting protest campaigns against the Government, demanding a reduction in oil prices and the cost of living. This article investigates the living conditions of citizens in the recent past and present, quality and ...

By Cheranka Mendis Despite the risk of negative global conditions worsening the ground situation in Asian countries, rating service Standard & Poor’s believes that by and large the region will continue to grow, with most countries now building resilience to face and absorb shocks. Standard & Poor’s Rating Service South East Asia Managing Director Surinder ...

By Cheranka Mendis The volatility in Middle Eastern markets, coupled with the increasing issue of low quality due to competition and increasing costs, has placed the local tea industry in a big fix, which could, if unattended, immediately mark the end of a Sri Lankan legacy in four to five years. Despite Sri Lankan tea ...

By Amantha Perera IPS: As the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) voted in, Thursday, a resolution asking Colombo to act on recommendations made by its own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), Buddhist prayers reverberated through the Sri Lankan capital. “It is a resolution that encourages Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of its own ...

Sri Lanka, affected by the sanctions imposed by the United States on Iranian oil, has entered into an agreement with Oman to buy oil from that country ahead of the US deadline. Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Chairman Dayananda Vidanagama Arachchi on behalf of Sri Lanka and Oman Oil Corporation Chairman Nasheer Al Jasmi inked the agreement ...

The world is looking towards making bold and concrete decisions which will enable policies, funding and political will, for sustainable development at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development also known as the Rio+20 which will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this June. However, none of this would possible without the crucial support ...

DUBAI (Reuters): World’s tallest building? Check. Man-made islands in the sea? Check. Indoor ski slope? Check. Now it’s time for opera and art. Dubai, which burst onto the global stage with a series of extravagant projects before being subdued by a crippling debt crisis, has now revived

During his recent visit to Sri Lanka, MTI’s Bahrain-based CEO Hilmy Cader, as part of MTI’s ‘Think Tank’ initiative, shared  their learnings on the impact of media on world opinion and what governments around the world can learn from businesses. The cold war and the ensuing threat of nuclear warfare has always preoccupied the world ...

Arguably, the silver lining in the currency depreciation is that Sri Lanka’s exports will grow, or it seems to be that at first glance. Yet, deepening the gloom, there is increasing concern that import-dependent exports such as apparel will take a hit from the plummeting rupee, resulting in the US$ 12 billion target being left ...

Reuters: Textiles exporters hoping the fall of Sri Lanka’s rupee would drive a boom this year are set to be disappointed as a resulting rise in costs of imported materials undermines margins, the state-run Export Development Board (EDB) said on Wednesday. Firms have been calling for years for a weaker currency to help them compete ...

The Central Bank yesterday was emphatic that much needed dollars are coming to Sri Lanka and the foreign exchange market, reassuring that stability was on course. In an apparent reaction to widespread criticism including that of UNP MP Dr. Harsha de Silva’s claim that the robust inflows projected under the Central Bank’s 2012 and beyond ...

A spectacular laser show and water dance taking place Friday and Saturday this week will mark the launch of a major campaign to improve water management. Backed by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), headquartered in Pelawatte, the campaign, RipplesOnWater.org, will raise awareness about water issues, initially in Sri Lanka and will then spread globally ...

Today is World Water DayBy Marianne David Recalling King Parakramabahu’s famous quote on water conservation and utilisation – ‘do not release even a drop of rain water to the sea without putting it to good use’ – Environmental Scientist Professor Sarath Kotagama called on Sri Lankans to “regain what was once ours by going back ...

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) spokesman and parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayaka in an interview with the Daily FT critiques the on-going sessions of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the state of bad governance, deteriorating law and order and the economic crisis in the country.  

Capital Alliance, a full-service investment bank will be hosting one of Asia’s foremost Investor Relations experts, Jonathan Zax, in Colombo this week. Zax’s investor relations efforts have been frequently recognised by the international financial community through top rankings in polls by Asiamoney, Finance Asia, Lafferty Group and Investor Relations Magazine. Last year, he received a...

Last year’s floods in Sri Lanka were some of the most destructive on record.  Even now some areas have not fully recovered from the inundation. Yet around the world we also see growing numbers of headlines about water scarcity. The current drought in Africa’s Sahel region for instance is threatening the food security of an ...

Many books and articles have been written about management styles, team building and motivation and whatever comes with being a good manager. Unfortunately, too many people think they are good managers when in reality they aren’t. Just reading a book or an article does not make one a good manager. Even worse, just years of ...

The country’s forex market encompassing highly dependent importers and key source exporters was yesterday rocked by what analysts described as the sharpest day gain in the US dollar exchange rate. Before mid-day the Rupee touched a new low of Rs. 127 and then on to Rs. 128 prompting many to assume the rate had bottomed ...

Can clothes, fashion accessories and makeup make a country look democratic?Dictators have begun to dress up their autocratic regimes in the manner of democracies with all the mod cons that help to pass off a system of government, which is for all purposes a dictatorship, as a five-star democracy. This in the manner that a ...

 Reuters: Sri Lanka’s rupee currency will recover substantially due to dollar inflows into the island nation’s stocks, government securities, banks, and a hotel project, Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said on Friday. The rupee hit a record low of 125.30 on Friday mainly due to importer dollar demand ahead of the April festive season, ...

High cost of living and festive seasons go hand in hand and the upcoming New Year looks set to becoming a particularly difficult one. With the Central Bank downgrading the economic forecast from eight per cent to 7.2 per cent and a rapidly depreciating rupee adding to increasing imports, the month of April, when consumerism ...