The Monetary Board, at its meeting held on 16 December 2011, has promoted four Staff Class Grade IV officers, A. Kamalasiri, R. Dheerasinghe, S.S. Ratnayake and K.D. Ranasinghe to the post of Assistant Governor with effect from 1 January, 2012. These promotions have been made in line with the succession plan of the Bank to ...

Prof. Yunus of Grameen Bank fame in Sri Lanka to promote social business By Uditha Jayasinghe In order to promote inclusive and sustainable development, the flaws of capitalism must be fixed, said Nobel Laureate Prof. M. Yunus, who landed in Sri Lanka last afternoon ahead of a corporate seminar today. Creating and implementing the idea ...

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) generally refers to long-term participation by one country in another country. It usually involves participation in a JV, capital transfer, transfer of technology and expertise. There are two types of FDI: inward foreign direct investment and outward foreign direct investment, resulting in a net FDI inflow (positive or negative) and stock ...

We are still stuck in the winter of our discontent! By Jude Fernando Groundviews.org: “Nearly all children nowadays were horrible. What was worst of all was that by means of such organisations as the Spies they were systematically turned into ungovernable little savages, and yet this produced in them no tendency whatever to rebel against ...

SRI Lanka Cricket has been a hot topic of conversation for most of this year, due to the massive financial mismanagement that has finally caught up to the institution, with even the Government refusing to back it any longer. Lending a ray of hope, Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said on Tuesday that the current financial ...

By Cassandra Mascarenhas The Sri Lanka Institute of Directors (SLID), as part of its ‘Power Evening’ series of events, presented an eclectic combination of chairmen from leading organisations in the country last week and at the occasion delved into the subject ‘Performing While Conforming – What the Textbooks Don’t Teach You’ by sharing experiences from ...

The stage is set for the grand finale of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka’s (ICASL) Annual Report Awards 2011 to be held on 9 December at Water’s Edge. Minister for Economic Development, Basil Rajapaksa, will grace the event as the Chief Guest. Marking the 47th year, these awards have become a benchmark ...

A full day seminar organised by the Trade Finance Association of Bankers on “Understanding Trade Risks to meet Global Challenges” was held on 26 November at the Galadari Hotel. The seminar was open to a wide spectrum of participants such as Importers, Exporters, Bankers, Lawyers, Shipping and Insurance Industry professionals etc. It was a full ...

Following are excerpts from the address delivered by Aloy Jayawardene, PHF, JP, President of the Sri Lanka Chamber of Small and Medium Industries at the 48th anniversary celebrations and ‘Industrial Excellence Awards 2011’ held at Waters Edge last week. Chief Guest at the ceremony was Australian High Commissioner Kathy Klugman I feel privileged and sad ...

The Sri Lankan Cricketers’ Association (SLCA) has contacted the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) seeking assistance over the delay in the cricketers’ salaries for series following the World Cup this year. Sri Lanka have played three series since the end of the World Cup in April and the players are still awaiting payment, including ...

The Central Bank released its latest educational publication titled ‘Analysis of Basic Economics Principles,’ authored by P. Samarasiri, Assistant Governor supervising the financial system stability cluster of the Central Bank. This book has been compiled based on key topics used to understand and analyse the working of an economy. Therefore, the book covers topics covering ...

Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the EU Ravinatha Aryasinha has said, latest statistics from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka reveal that Sri Lanka’s exports to the EU grew by 25.5% in the first nine months of 2011 (2635 million $), compared to the corresponding period of 2010 (2100 million $). Meanwhile, with ...

Research issue Sri Lanka’s growth cannot be examined in isolation. This is because its economy is intricately interwoven to its neighbours and other countries through commercial, political and cultural links. The sustainability of any growth strategy adopted by the country will depend on the stability of different partnerships and the ability of the country to ...

The Group of 20 heads of state met in France in early November launching an annual group meeting of the heads of State. The G20 is made up of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the EU, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, UK and the US. ...

After some years of lower sugar production, after this former state company was privatised and came under our ownership, output has improved and we are hopefully on the road to create a sustainable sugar and dairy industry in Sri Lanka that will benefit the generations to come. Yet we have still a long way to ...

Following is the address delivered by Senior Minister for International Monetary Cooperation Dr. Sarath Amunugama at the fourth South Asia Economic Summit (SAES IV) Plenary Session: In the aftermath of the global economic crisis, there has been a noticeable shift in economic clout, moving from the USA and the debt-plagued countries of the Eurozone, to ...

Occupy Wall Street, occupy the London Stock ExchangeThe frustrations caused to the unemployed, the poor and the marginalised by the international and national economic crisis has spilled out onto the streets in the capital cities of the world’s leading and emerging economies. It has spread at the last count to over 900 cities in over ...

Reuters: Rajat Gupta, who sat on the boards of some of America’s most prestigious companies, was arrested and charged on Wednesday with being the “illegal eyes and ears” for his friend Raj Rajaratnam, the central figure in a broad U.S. crackdown on insider trading at hedge funds. Gupta, 62, a former director of Goldman Sachs ...

In the midst of the turmoil in international financial markets and national economies, Sovereign Wealth Funds are coming into closer focus. For the first time since the breakout of the financial crisis, the financial mandarins of China intervened to shore up confidence in the country’

KPMG’s Middle East & South Asia (MESA) Regional Office on Tuesday announced that its 10th Middle East & South Asia Partners’ Conference will be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in November this year. Hossam Amin Fahmy, Chief Operating Officer of KPMG’s MESA Regional Office commented that the Partners’ Conference is a key event in the ...

Professionals are shy to raise critical issues in public!It is believed that the single focus advocacy proposal of the Joint Chambers of Commerce and Industry for the Budget 2012 to address is the continuing high priority of enhancing the ‘ease of doing business in Sri Lanka’. A president of a chamber holds a publicly articulated ...

With a focus on uplifting the business environment of the country through strengthened internal systems and procedures, the Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka (MBSL Bank) is taking advantage of the improved economic climate to provide a wide array of corporate finance activities. Among these are Project Financing for startup companies, business expansions and business acquisitions ...

Arguably the world’s most powerful leader, Barak Obama, underscored that the Eurozone crisis is “scaring the world”. It comes as no surprise then that his Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner heads the international clamour for more action to solve the burgeoning sovereign debt problem that has dominated financial markets in recent times. George Osborne, Britain’s current ...

Growth assets are a good investment in the current climate Felix Stephen is the Manager Investment Strategy and Research at Advance Asset Management Ltd., Sydney, aapart of Westpac, which is one of the big four banks in Australia. He spoke to the Daily FT about the global economy and investment, the climate in Europe, the ...

A COLLEGE drop out and global genius is dead. Steve Jobs was a very private person, eccentric and brash. He was fired from the company he founded Apple and was brought back to resurrect it and make it one of the most valuable and admired companies on earth, its stock earlier this year the most ...

HSBC Chief Economist in region forecasts 6.8% growth in 2012, lower from 8.1% estimate for 2011; lists global recession hitting exports, inflows and upward pressure on inflation as key risksDescribing that the world was at present running in two speeds with risks, a top regional economist last week declared that Sri Lanka remained resilient though ...

John O’Grady is the IFRS Leader for Asia Pacific Area of Ernst & Young. He will share his thoughts on ‘Quest for Balance – IFRS: Theory, Practice and Transition’ at the National Conference of Chartered Accountants – 2011. Following are excerpts of an interview: Q: Could you give us an insight into your professional achievements? ...

I like to be an optimist. No matter what may happen around us, I would like to retain feelings of hope I have for all human-kind and on a more intimate level for you, for me, the newborn and the to-be-born. Yet, what has already happened around me, happening now and may happen in the ...

By Uditha Jayasinghe Brewed by external demand reductions and local policies, Sri Lanka’s value-added tea exports are declining while bulk shipments are increasing, resulting in a possible drop in earnings, industry experts warned yesterday.  Terming the reduction in value-added tea as a “disturbing trend,” Asia Siyaka Commodities said in a review report that Sri Lanka’...

By Cheranka Mendis People’s Leasing, the undisputed market leader in the industry for nine years, is going for a record profit this year having achieved a profit of Rs. 2.2 billion within the first five months of the year. CEO of People’s Leasing D.P. Kumarage told the Daily FT that the company, with a net ...