When the five days long stretch of holidays ended last week and the Colombo bourse reopened for trading on Tuesday, the market surged 6.71 percent (633.69 points up) on the broad All Share Price Index (ASPI) while the Standard and Poor SL 20 index covering the 20 largest and more liquid companies quoted on the […]

By Rathindra Kuruwita Unless Sri Lanka addressed its governance issues, the country would have to restructure its debt again like most countries that had unsustainable levels of corruption, Executive Director of Verité Research Nishan de Mel said in a recent televised interview. Dr. De Mel said that as the government had decided to pay the […]

by Jehan Perera President Ranil Wickremesinghe notched up another achievement when Parliament ratified the Domestic Debt Restructuring (DDR) programme with a majority of 60 votes, with 122 members voting for and 62 against, with 40 abstentions. Parliamentarians who would need to think about their re-election prospects would have been reluctant to vote for a programme […]

Sri Lankan state can’t allow even a small bank to collapse because that will trigger a bank run with a devastating impact on the economy. Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka CBSL) Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe said, on Thursday night, taking part in a televised discussion. Dr. Weerasinghe said that Domestic Debt Restructuring (DDR) […]

Banks, which pay taxes over 50%, least affected By Sanath Nanayakkare If the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and other pension funds did not wish to participate in the proposed domestic debt restructuring process, there will be an application of higher annual income tax of 30%, Central Bank

Declaring that the government had been compelled to go ahead with the debt restructuring programme, President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday (27) assured that it wouldn’t have a detrimental impact on both state and private banking sectors. The assurance was given at the opening of a new building at the Gampaha District Secretariat premises. President Wickremesinghe said […]

President Ranil Wickremesinghe assured that the restructuring of domestic debt will have no impact on the membership balance of any public funds, including the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF). He emphasized that the rate of return for superannuation funds will not be affected

Expressing strong opposition to the proposed domestic debt restructuring programme announced by the government, Prof. G. L. Peiris, MP, yesterday (26) accused the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa administration of being insensitive and irresponsible in addressing the issue. Instead of working on a social security net to protect the needy, the government was taking a dangerous path that would […]

The Sectoral Oversight Committee on Foreign Employment and Labour has recently directed the Central Bank to submit a report detailing the institutions in which funds belonging to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) have been invested. In addition, the committee has decided to summon experts

Steps are being taken to prepare the new integrated labour law to avoid the complexities of the existing employment statutes, Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment, Manusha Nanayakkara, recently told the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Labour and Foreign Employment affairs. The Minister said they will start taking opinions and suggestions of all relevant parties from […]

Fear of a DDR/IFR event drive rates even higher

Currency depreciation inflates an economy and imposes a 'hair cut' on domestic debt by reducing purchasing power

Photo courtesy of Longitude 80 The estate sector, a high foreign exchange earner for the country, is undergoing a severe crisis. On one hand, estate workers are underpaid and forced to live...

Photo courtesy of Longitude 80 The estate sector, a high foreign exchange earner for the country, is undergoing a severe crisis. On one hand, estate workers are underpaid and forced to live...

Photo courtesy of Longitude 80 The estate sector, a high foreign exchange earner for the country, is undergoing a severe crisis. On one hand, estate workers are underpaid and forced to live...

Photo courtesy of Longitude 80 The estate sector, a high foreign exchange earner for the country, is undergoing a severe crisis. On one hand, estate workers are underpaid and forced to live...

2014 T Bond Yield Goes Below One Year T Bill Rate In Secondary Market The rupee further strengthened at Friday’s (September 21) trading due to a mix of sluggish import demand and possible foreign investment in the Government Bond market, a source told this newspaper. As a result, the exchange rate (ER) strengthened by 25 ...

Amidst a number of questionable investments in the Colombo Stock Exchange, the Employee s Provident ..

Last week’s weekly Treasury (T) Bill auction saw  yields continuing with their upward ascent, with the weighted average yields (WAYs) for 182 and 364 day T Bills rising by seven and four basis points (bps) to 13.02% and 13.27% respectively. However the WAY for the 91 day T Bill stagnated at the 11.36% level, which ...