Sri Lanka – FINANCE NEWS

Simplebooks Outlines the Step-by-Step Guided Process in Initiating FDIs in Sri Lanka

2May

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Economy, External Account, Investments, Opinion

Simplebooks Outlines the Step-by-Step Guided Process in Initiating FDIs in Sri Lanka

As a leading private business registration firm in Sri Lanka, Simplebooks has assisted countless companies to set up and grow their businesses. With Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) is becoming crucial for developing nations including Sri Lanka to become a developed nation, Simplebooks professes the importance for the country to welcome Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) looking at a broader perspective beyond foreign inflows or additional funding. “Foreign Direct Investments are a great way for Sri Lankans to accelerate and grow their companies” said Aabith Sabeer, the CEO of Simplebooks. “Looking at it from a local perspective, FDIs could mean more capital for companies and job opportunities for people, companies could adopt foreign methodologies, absorb new knowledge, improv...

Sri Lanka end 2020 with $5.7 billion in FX Reserves

19Jan

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Economy, External Account

Sri Lanka end 2020 with $5.7 billion in FX Reserves

The Central Bank (CB) estimated the country's foreign reserves st $5.7 at the end of 2020, with an import cover of 4.3 months. "Amidst hostile global market conditions, the Government and the Central Bank continued to explore avenues of financial flows to the country, while discussions with domestic and foreign counterpartsin this regard have made notable progress," the CB said today. The CB expects that reopening the country for tourist arrivals under strict health guidelines could help improve external sector conditions in the period ahead.

Central Bank Promotes Yvette Fernando, Dhammika Nanayakkara as Deputy Governors

18Dec

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Banking and Insurance, Finance and Leasing

Central Bank Promotes Yvette Fernando, Dhammika Nanayakkara as Deputy Governors

The Central Bank (CB) announced that Yvette Fernando, Dhammika Nanayakkara promoted as Deputy Governors to fill the positions vacated by Deputy Governors Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe and H.A. Karunaratne upon their retirements in September. "The Monetary Board, with the concurrence of the Minister of Finance, has promoted Assistant Governors, Mrs. T M J Y P Fernando and Mr. N W G R D Nanayakkara to the post of Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) with effect from 14th December 2020," the CB said. The most senior CB officials, Dr. Weerasinghe and Karunaratne left the CB in September this year, taking three-month prior to their retirements. Fernando has over 30 years of service in the CB in the areas of supervision and regulation of banks, foreign exchange managemen...

Financial Regulators to face dilemma once the withdrawal from Covid-19 measures begins

14Dec

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Banking and Insurance, Economy, International Business, Opinion

Financial Regulators to face dilemma once the withdrawal from Covid-19 measures begins

The Financial Regulators across the World will face a dilemma once the withdrawal from Covid-19 measures begins as to how and when to exit from regulatory relief measures in balancing the benefits of economic relief with financial stability considerations. "The challenge will be how and when to exit from regulatory relief measures. In terms of timing, authorities need to steer a course between Scylla and Charybdis. Acting too early may remove much needed credit to support economic growth. Waiting too long may delay necessary resource reallocation and put additional long-run pressure on the financial sector as the solvency phase of the crisis could expose any depletion of loss-absorbing resources, potentially undermining confidence in the post-crisis regulatory regime and its abilit...

Binance adds Sri Lankan Rupee to its P2P trading list

9Dec

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Economy, FX Market

Binance adds Sri Lankan Rupee to its P2P trading list

Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the World has added Sri Lanka Rupee to its peer-to-peer trading list. The Exchange announced additions of Myanmar Kyat [MMK], Lao Kip [LAK], Cambodia Riel [KHR], and Sri Lanka Rupee [LKR] to its P2P trading platform. The announced fiats are expected trade against Bitcoin [BTC], Tether [USDT], Ethereum [ETH], Binance Coin [BNB], Binance USD [BUSD], and DAI. Further, it noted that fiats including LKR would be tradable with zero transaction fees. Sri Lanka Rupee reported a higher period of volume in the past seven days. Binance also announced that it is looking for local P2P merchants who have a stable source of cryptocurrencies and MMK, LAK, KHR, or LKR. Asia Pacific has been the second-largest continent in terms o...

SriLanka’s foreign Reserves falls to record low levels

8Dec

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Economy, External Account, FIscal Policy

SriLanka’s foreign Reserves falls to record low levels

Sri Lanka's gross foreign reserves fell to $5.54 billion, the lowest levels seen since April 2017. Amidst, COVID-19 infused crisis, the foreign exchange flows through exports and tourism declined to the country while the existing reserves were utilized for foreign debt settlements including a $1 billion ISB settlement in October. In November, the country's gross foreign reserve fell to 5.549 billion from $5.855 billion in October. The Previous lowest reserve level was recorded in April 2017 at $ 5.045 billion.

Sri Lanka’s banks became more flexible in lending in 3Q

7Dec

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Banking and Insurance, Business, Economy

Sri Lanka’s banks became more flexible in lending in 3Q

Sri Lanka's banking sector was more open to lending for borrowers in retail, corporate, and SME categories in the third quarter of the year amidst improved risk perception and improved liquidityposition. However, due to the impacts from the second wave of COVID-19 on the credit supply, the Central Bank (CB) expects the banks to become more conservative in lending in the current (Q4) quarter. In the third quarter, the demand for loans was significantly up across all categories driven by the sharp reduction in interest rates. "Loans demanded by the corporate category for the purposes of working capital and debt restructuring showed an increase in 2020 Q3," CB said. Meanwhile, the CB expects the demand for loans to increase further in Q4 with the optimism prevailed on the re...

Sri Lanka’s gross financing requirements top $20 billion next year – EMFI Securities

4Dec

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Economy, Finance and Leasing, FIscal Policy

Sri Lanka’s gross financing requirements top $20 billion next year – EMFI Securities

Sri Lanka's gross financing needs are projected to top $20 billion next year, a 22.3 percent increase compared to this year, according to EMFI Securities. London-based Financial Provider in a recent report said that the government may have underestimated current expenditures (mostly salaries and wages) and overestimating revenues. Therefore, it projected that the country's gross financing requirement to increase to 22.3% of GDP in 2021 (or USD 20.9 bn), by two percentage points of GDP higher than in 2020. Further, it highlighted that Sri Lanka's external debt service payments amount to a 'very compromising' $ 4.2 bn in 2021, which represents 71% of its international reserves.

Sri Lanka to introduce new laws to protect investments

1Dec

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Business, Chinese, Economy, Investments

Sri Lanka to introduce new laws to protect investments

Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa vowed to bring in new laws to protect both local and foreign investors as the government aims to encourage investments to reduce reliance on borrowings. "Our overreliance on loans must come to an end. That is why the focus ofthe Government is on fostering investments. We must attract more Foreign Direct Investment and encourage more local investment to drive our economic growth. With this in view, the Government is bringing in new laws to fully protect investments," Rajapaksa asserted at the Sri Lanka Economic Summit organized by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. Further, he stressed that the government is committed to enhancing the ease of doing business in Sri Lanka. The President noted that delays in projects funded by foreign parti...

Sri Lanka’s banks to show reluctance to absorb their subsidiary Finance Firms – Fitch Ratings

24Nov

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Banking and Insurance, Business, Economy, Finance and Leasing, International Business

Sri Lanka’s banks to show reluctance to absorb their subsidiary Finance Firms – Fitch Ratings

Sri Lanka's banks would be reluctant to absorb their finance and leasing companies (FLC) due to the significant difference between their risk profiles and underwriting practices which could lead to elevated challenges in achieving effective management, According to Fitch Ratings. The government's budget speech, presented on 17 November 2020, reiterated the importance of consolidation in the FLC sector, which has been on the cards since 2014 when the Central Bank (CB) announced its 'Master Plan for the Consolidation of the Financial Sector'. It led to several banks acquiring FLC subsidiaries in 2014 and 2015, including the acquisition of HNB Finance (then Prime Grameen Micro Finance Limited) by Hatton National Bank and Serendib Finance (then Indra Finance Limited) by Commercial Bank of ...