Last week there were more stories making the rounds on contemplated decisions made outside the cabinet meeting than decisions made inside. Of course, the usual briefing on cabinet decisions were spelled out, Thursday afternoon. For a regime that still wants to boast it has popular support, comparing itself to an opposition fractured and quarrelling red and green, it is ...

If the Governor of Central Bank has an urge to enter politics, he should come to Parliament without playing politics inside the CB, charges United National Party Parliamentarian and well-known Economist Dr. Harsha de Silva. Dr. de Silva notes that Governor Nivard Cabraal should respect the sanctity of the Central Bank and therefore if Cabraal ...

The UNP yesterday demanded that the annual accounts of the Employment Provident Fund for 2010 be immediately released.    “The Government has no moral right to bring an amendment to the EPF Act not having submitted its accounts since 2009 and dodged the numerous questions on its questionable investments in the Colombo Stock Exchange,” UNP ...

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Sri Lanka’s Housing Development Finance Corporation Bank’s National Long-Term rating at ‘BBB+(lka)’. The “Outlook” Fitch says is Stable. At the same time, the agency has affirmed the bank’s outstanding senior unsecured redeemable debentures at ‘BBB+(lka)’. The ratings reflect HDFC’s demonstrated ability to contain interest rate risk b...

The Pathfinder Foundation with the assistance of Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA) and USAID, recently commissioned a study to identify the policy and regulatory reforms that are required to make Sri Lanka a leading country in investor friendliness. Improving the business climate is not an end in itself. A better business environment is a ...

Market’s illiquid state compounded by seasonal demand for money, coupled with the lack of confidence in the establishment that is also driving demand for US dollars ($s) and rates as well, forced Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) to hold a reverse repo auction on Friday (December 16) to tide over the situation Overnight (O/n) ...

From early in-house management training to training in world class management schools that professionals, business leaders, academics and civil society leaders have undergone, they have learnt of the key management principle of engaging in quiet reflection, reality checks, risk mitigation assessments and the need to plan lessons learnt response action. These practices are considered essential ...

By Ian The President in his speech at the opening of the Southern Expressway said that this could be the beginning of building a modern society. He also mentioned that had there been such an expressway linking the north with the south the extremists would not have succeeded in capitalising on the mistrust among communities. ...

Professionals stressed the importance of attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country to usher in much needed development and also to help in foreign debt servicing and to take away pressure on interest rates. Former Central Bank of Sri Lanka Director Statistics Dr. (Mrs.) Anila Dias Bandaranaike speaking at a CIMA sponsored budget seminar ...

ASPI in steepest fall since February; fears over Takeover nBill force dumping of blue chips; EPF the lone ranger Investor confidence is worsening by the day judging by the continued tumble in value of the Colombo bourse, as it suffered one of the sharpest declines yesterday. The market capitalisation of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) ...

The UNP yesterday criticised the Board of Investment (BOI) for misleading investors by changing its web site's previous assurance that foreign investments will not be nationalised. An apparent development following the passing of Takeover Bill in parliament on Wednesday, in the BOI web site's section listing Supportive Government Policies, the new version only states "Safety ...

By: R. M. B. Senanayake The EPF has defended their investments in the stock market. But it has missed the point of the criticism leveled by the public.  No one is opposing the EPF investing in the stock market. But the EPF should not gamble with the workers money for they are trustees only. Losses that ...

The Central Bank yesterday issued a fresh statement defending the stock market investments made by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), which has come under criticism from the Opposition and others. The statement said in an era where interest rates are likely to decline in the medium to long term, the EPF has taken the view ...

Dr. Lalith P. Chandradasa, a doctor of medicine and a brother-in-law of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the pioneering development finance institution DFCC Bank. The appointment as an Independent Director had been approved by the DFCC Bank Board following the go ahead by the Director of Bank Supervision, ...

Commonwealth Games’ Bid The ethics of Government of Sri Lanka’s (GoSL’s) decision to request public banks to make a contribution to strengthen GoSL’s bid to hold the Commonwealth Games in Hambantota in 2018 are being questioned by certain quarters. One banker told this reporter that as banks are custodians of depositors’ funds, it’s not right ...

By Cheranka Mendis Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal yesterday declared that the country’s biggest fund, the EPF, was well managed and not corrupted, in remarks that signalled an apparent dismissal of allegations levelled by the main opposition UNP. Sri Lanka’s largest fund, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) will hold a balance that exceeds Rs. 1,000 ...

Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabral has said that they had no intention of vesting the Employees Provident in another party. He was speaking at the relocation of the EPF Department at a new venue. The Employees Provident Fund Department has been relocated in the Lloyds Building at Sir Baron Jayatilleke Mawatha in Colombo One. ...

aUNP MP and the party’s Economic Spokesman Dr. Harsha de Silva yesterday renewed his warning over the fate of EPF’s questionable investments in the stock market. In a statement, he urged that EPF must follow its own investment guidelines and code of professional conduct or else members would soon begin to suffer. Here is the ...

By Harsha de Silva We understand that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is planning to compound undisclosed securities fraud by some billionaire investors. Media reports have begun to circulate that Environmental Resources Investments (ERI) and its Directors have agreed with the SEC to pay an insignificant fine of Rs. 10 million and compound an ...

Deputy Chairman Ashok Pathirage is keen to buy more shares of NDB Bank, if available at the right price. On Friday, Ashok, who is the Chairman of Softlogic Holdings, bought 470,000 shares at Rs. 135 each in a deal worth Rs. 63.4 million. This was after he picked up one million shares at the same ...

More To Exit following UN Report The stock market continued to lose its momentum as predicted in the lead story on these pages in its last week’s edition, compounded by foreigners fleeing the market, made worse by the UN’s negative war report on the island. “There is panic selling by foreigners in the backdrop of ...

Banks’ Profits Up 111% The banking industry achieved a considerably high level of profits in 2010. Profit after tax amounted to Rs. 57.5 billion last year, a 111% growth in comparison to a Rs. 27.2 billion profit in 2009. The significant growth in profitability was mainly attributed to a higher increase in fee-based income, a ...

No Investments With the market throwing up an excess liquidity of more than Rs. 120 billion day, day in day out, and signs being that investments have not picked up, are all favourable indicators for the prevalence of a low interest regime in the economy, a market source told this reporter. The market has no ...

Excess Liquidity, Small Forex Market Excess liquidity coupled with low volumes of foreign exchange traded have been continuing to bug markets here, which a source attributed as being are reflection of the low levels of economic activity taking place in the country. Despite a spike last Friday, the foreign exchange (forex) market has been averaging ...

President Rajapaksa as Minister of Finance presented the first budget in his second term as the Executive President, making proposals giving a major impetus to value addition of local industrial products, to improve export earnings while granting a wide range of concessions, increasing outsourcing facilities in Sri Lanka for foreign business enterprises. Thus the President, ...

By Chamitha Kuruppu Reputed Economist and UNP Member of Parliament Dr. Harsha de Silva, while talking about the crony capitalism in the country, warns that the situation is only going to get worse within the new set up, where economic...

The bourse, affected by the 10% price ceiling on daily trading, and with no foreign investments in sight, saw the benchmark ASPI and the more sensitive MPI picking up by five and 13 points respectively on Friday’s trading (over that of Thursday’s close), according to provisional results. Turnover was Rs. 2.5 billion led by Aitken ...

Aug 18, Colombo: Sri Lanka Central Bank (CBSL) today dismissed an opposition party claim that the Employee's Provident Fund (EPF) does not have the authority to invest in banking and financial sector stocks listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange.