CSE THIS WEEK

Sri Lanka says budget targets could be met despite tax cuts

Nov 01, 2018 

Sri Lanka's finance ministry said budget targets could be met in 2018 despite tax cuts, announced Thursday, by trimming capital expenditure, after Mahinda Rajapaksa was appointed Finance Minister.

"..[The] government is confident that the primary surplus of 1.8 percent of GDP and the budget deficit of around 4.9 percent of GDP that have been targeted for 2018 could be achieved in support for further fiscal consolidation to provide economic stability," the Finance Ministry said.

Sri Lanka cut prices of fuel and slashed a number of taxes, raised the threshold on personal value added tax and lifted withholding tax on deposits.
A tax rate of 14 percent tax rate for agriculture businesses will be made available to individuals engaged in farming, bringing their rate down from 24 percent.

A concessionary tax rate of 14 percent on SME categories will be "extended to include individuals including those providing professional services," the statement said, brining the rate down from 24 percent.

The threshold for value added tax will be raised to 24 million rupees from 12 million for small businesses.

For wholesale and retail, the VAT threshold will be raised from 50 to 100 million rupees. 

Withholding tax on interest on deposits has been lifted.

Remittances will be exempted from tax. 

Telecom tax cut from 25 percent to 15 percent. 

"The necessary Gazettes for the aforementioned tax related proposals will be issued today and Cabinet approval is sought to amend the necessary tax laws," the Finance Ministry statement said.

In Sri Lanka though the parliamnet is in theory in control of finances, some import taxes are changed through midnight gazette by decree. The statement came as Sri Lanka is in the grip of a political crisis after President Maithripala Sirisena appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister and Finance Minister and the parliament is suspended. (COLOMBO, 01 November, 2018)

https://economynext.com/Sri_Lanka_says_budget_targets_could_be_met_despite_tax_cuts-3-12442-1.html

Economy needs national safeguards
11 November, 2018

Poor economic policies and shortsightedness in business decisions of the United National Party (UNP) have pushed the country backwards to a point of no return, says Dr. Indrajith Aponsu, Assistant Director of the Econsult Investment Services and Senior lecturer at the Department of Economics, Colombo University.

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He said the economy needs national safeguards.

“This government has been in power since the beginning of 2015. During that period for various reasons the country’s economic situation started deteriorating. This was something which no one would have expected when this government took office in 2015. Historically, the UNP government has always been an investor friendly government. Ironically, what happened was the exact opposite,” Dr Aponsu told the Sunday Observer.

Citing possible reasons for the negative performance of the past regime, he said that the UNP had lost its focus from the start.

“Prior to the regime change the economy was doing well. During that time economic growth was on an upward trend recording seven per cent or more economic growth, infrastructure was in place, the war against terrorism was eradicated, foreign direct investors were keen on investing in Sri Lanka, inflation was decreasing and interest rates were on a low trajectory,” he said.

Criticising the economic policies that were adopted at the time, he said that the deterioration of the economy started under the UNP government.

He said that the price of a barrel of oil coming down to US$ 30 a barrel when the ÜNP government was in power, provided a de facto foreign exchange saving for the government which would have been enough for the government for the foreseeable future.

Calling the government’s decision to give public sector workers a Rs.10,000 increase was a mistake and he also said that under the 2015 government the country was managed according to social market economy policies.

During that time, the government was under pressure to curtail expenditure. But the government burdened themselves with roughly about Rs.13 billion extra expenditure on salaries every month.

“It was a massive burden on the budget, they couldn’t recover from that. It was additional salary expenditure of Rs.150 billion every year. The government could have constructed 50 first class hospitals with that money. It would have made a big difference to the society at large. The government’s decision to spend extra money on public sector salaries was an amateurish decision by the government. This extra burden on the government would continue until inflation discounts it in about five to ten years. According to economic theories expenditure brings aggregate demand. “Aggregate demand is where people are made to spend,” Dr. Aponsu said.

Commenting on the public sector salary increments he said that the salary increase was an injection towards only a particular sector of the society.

“This was disadvantageous towards other sectors of the society. Most of the public sector workers took loans to buy vehicles.

There was an influx of vehicles into the country which drained a huge chunk of foreign exchange. Much foreign exchange was spent on consumer goods. Car imports went up by about 150% in 2015. Indirect taxes were increased by the government. It was tough on the poor population,” he said.

Analysing how the UNP and the SLFP embroiled on a collision course, he said, the government lost the grassroots and everyone due to the coalition. Countries which record high economic growth have managed the markets. J R Jayewardene tried to have a blend between the open economy and managed economy. In between other rulers tried various methods. The 2015 government followed the open economy policy. This would have damaged the country.

“Sri Lanka has been a welfare economy from 1931 with a 90% literacy rate and the Sri Lankan economy is not a “South Asian economy” in that sense. The last government did not understand this.

The total free market concept has failed all over the world. The total free market policywhich was experimented in Latin American countries in the 70s and 80s failed to the extent that they have not yet recovered from those consequences,” Dr Aponsu said.

Agriculture is a sector which fluctutates every year but the worry was that the industry and services also deteriorated under the past government. Garments didn’t flourish despite the GSP+. You cannot raise cost structures of industries and then ask them to export. There are many countries which can compete with Sri Lanka. A future government should try not to score marks on financial policies and rectify issues in the economy.

Sri Lanka was not prepared for the U.S government’s increase of interest rates. The increase of interest rates is like a black hole or tsunami. It sucks funds from all over the world. So, anything that is invested here would simply go out.

The past government was caught off guard for that situation although they had the ability to collect much foreign exchange with the dropping of oil prices. The present government has a responsibility to stop the exchange rate drop. When the exchange rate is going up you cannot handle interest rates.

http://sundayobserver.lk/2018/11/11/opinion/economy-needs-national-safeguards

Sri Lanka industrial production down 0.7-pct in Sept

Nov 10, 2018 

Sri Lanka's industrial production in September 2018 fell 0.7 percent from a year earlier with declines in food manufacturing, the state statistics office said.

The Department of Census and Statistics said the Index of Industrial Production fell to 106.9 index points in September. An index value over 100 shows a growth in manufacturing compared to the base year of 2015.

In September, food manufacturing, which accounts for just over a third of industrial production fell 2.2 percent from a year earlier to 105.2 points. Food products 35.2

Apparel manufacturing, making up 19.8 percent of the industrial sector, grew 3.7 percent to 111.1 points.

Other non-metallic mineral products, the third highest, grew 6.7 percent to 116.3 points.

Coke and refined petroleum production, making up 7.4 percent of industrial activity, grew 8.4 percent to 114.6 points.

Rubber and plastic production, forming 5.7 percent of manufacturing, fell 8.8 percent to 100.8 points.

Textile manufacturing grew 14.6 percent to 126.6 points, while tobacco manufacturing fell 23 percent to 90.2 points.

During the third quarter of 2018 the index recorded 107.4 points, up from 107.2 points a year earlier, with a marginal fall in food production offset by increases in the other 4 main industries. 

https://economynext.com/Sri_Lanka_industrial_production_down_0.7_pct_in_Sept-3-12541-4.html

Central Bank reduced SRR & increased policy interest rates
14November 2018

Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, at its meeting held on 13 November 2018, has decided to reduce the Statutory Reserve Ratio (SRR) applicable on all rupee deposit liabilities of commercial banks by 1.50 percentage points to 6.00 percent.


In order to neutralize the impact of this reduction and maintain its neutral monetary policy stance, the Monetary Board has decided to increase the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) by 75 basis points to 8.00 percent and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) by 50 basis points to 9.00 percent.

The Board said it arrived at this decision following a careful analysis of current and expected developments in the domestic and global economy and the domestic financial market, with the broad aim of stabilizing inflation at mid-single-digit levels in the medium term to enable the economy to reach its potential.

“The Monetary Board observed that large and persistent liquidity deficit in the domestic money market requires policy intervention,” the Central Bank said.

“The board decided to reduce the SRR applicable on all rupee deposit liabilities of commercial banks by 1.50 percentage points to 6.00 percent from the current level of 7.50 percent with effect from the next reserve maintenance period commencing 16 November 2018,”

“The reduction in SRR is expected to release a substantial amount of rupee liquidity to the banking system, thus reducing the cost of funds of banks.”


http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/central-bank-reduced-srr-increased-policy-interest-rates/

Unions, CB discuss EPF investments
Sunday 25 November

Amidst the doom and gloom in the country, there was some welcome news for Colombo’s stock market. The authorities are close to winning the unions over in the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) continued investment in the stock market, after a meeting on Wednesday between unions, affiliated to the National Labour Advisory Council, and Central Bank (CB) officials.

The CB team was led by Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy and included deputy governors while the unions were led by JVP-affiliated Inter Company Employees Union President Wasantha Samarasinghe, which had requested the meeting to discuss the EPF vis-a-vis share market investments.

“It was a productive and positive meeting in the sense that this is the first time a Central Bank Governor has met the unions and clearly explained EPF investments,” Mr. Samarasinghe told the Business Times.

The EPF invests mostly in government securities, a small percentage in the share market and fixed deposits in banks. During 2010-2013, the Fund drew widespread criticism after investments in many loss-making companies in the stock market during the infamous pump-and-dump trades. In the past few years, new investments in the stock markets have been suspended owing to the dispute while stock market officials have urged the authorities to reconsider the suspension.

Industry officials welcomed the discussion. “The EPF must come back to the market as valuations are extremely attractive and there can be strict guidelines issued on investments for e.g. they can only invest in the S&P Top 20, etc,” said Ray Abeywardena, President Colombo Stock Brokers Association.

Mr. Samarasinghe said they were opposed to increasing the current portfolio of investments which is 4.23 per cent of total EPF investments to 8.5 per cent – without proper safeguards.

On the positive side the CB promised the unions to send them within two weeks the portfolio of EPF investments in the stock market while holding a meeting every six months with the unions as an ongoing discussion.

It was agreed that investment guidelines on EPF investments would be publicised on the CB website as a measure of transparency.
It was also revealed that so far the EPF has invested Rs. 84 billion in the stock market. CB officials had also said they were unaware or not officially informed of a proposal through the Asian Development Bank to increase EPF investments in the stock market.

Palitha Athukorala, President of the National Union of Seafarers Sri Lanka, also present at the discussion, described it as a positive meeting adding that while many unionists expressed confidence in the integrity of the Governor, they were “worried about people at the top (government politicians).”

He quoted the Governor as saying that they need to increase EPF investments as 83 per cent by law is invested in government securities while there is a limit to investing in fixed deposits in banks as that leads to excess cash in banks and inflationary trends.

“Speaking about transparent measures, the governor said special measures have been taken in which no mobile phones are allowed into the dealing room which also has CCTV,” Mr Athukorala said, adding that the authorities seem to have a convincing argument to invest more in the stock market.
It was also disclosed that before any EPF investment is made in the stock market, a research paper would be presented internally on the reasons to invest. The EPF is one of the largest funds in Asia.

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/181125/business-times/unions-cb-discuss-epf-investments-321517.html

Sri Lanka Cabinet approves funds for 2019 first quarter

Nov 28, 2018

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a proposal to present a Vote on Account in order to secure provisions for 2019 first quarter.

Accordingly the cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs to present a proposal for entire expenditure of 1,735 billion rupees (Vote on Account).

In detail 760 million rupees to continue process of Government Public Services, 970 billion rupees for the expenditures previously authorized by different laws and 05 billion rupees for the Government Advance Account.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet also considered the matters presented by Rajapaksa, regarding the present situation of the country’s economy, condition of the liabilities which have been agreed and programmes conducted recently for improving economic situation of the country.

Analysts say that following Sri Lanka’s Parliament passing a no-confidence motion against newly appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa last week that the the present cabinet and government are no longer in effect.

http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/sri-lanka-cabinet-approves-funds-for-2019-first-quarter/

ලැයිස්තුගත සමාගම් 8 ක් කොටස් ගනුදෙනු තහනම් වීමේ අවදානමක

November, 29, 2018

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කොළඹ කොටස් වෙළෙඳපොළේ ලැයිස්තුගත සමාගම් 8 ක කොටස් ගනුදෙනු 2018 දෙසැම්බර් 10 වන දින සිට අත්හිටුවීමට පියවර ගන්නා බව වාර්තා වේ.

මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් කොළඹ කොටස් වෙළෙඳපොළ කියා සිටින්නේ 2018 මාර්තු 31 න් අවසන් මූල්‍ය වර්ෂ්‍ය සඳහා අදාළ වාර්ෂික වාර්තා ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට මෙම සමාගම් අසමත් වී ඇති බැවින් මෙකී පියවර ගන්නා බවයි.

මෙහිදී වැඩිදුරටත් කොළඹ කොටස් වෙළෙඳපොළ පවසන්නේ 2018 දෙසැම්බර් 07 වන දිනය හෝ ඊට ප්‍රථම මෙම මූල්‍ය වාර්තා ලබා දීමට එම සමාගම් අපොහොසත් වුවහොත් දෙසැම්බර් 10 වන දින සිට කොටස් වෙළෙඳපොළ ගනුදෙනු අත්හිටුවීමට පියවර ගන්නා බවයි.

මෙලෙස කොටස් ගනුදෙනු අත්හිටුවීමේ අවදානයට ලක්ව ඇති සමාගම් පහත පරිදි වේ.

1. ඇඩම් ඉන්වෙස්ට්මන්ට්ස් පීඑල්සී
2. අනිලානා හොටේල්ස් ඇන්ඩ් ප්‍රොපටීස් පීඑල්සී
3. බ්ලූ ඩයමන්ඩ් ජුවලරි වර්ල්ඩ්වයිඩ් පීඑල්සී
4. සිලෝන් ඇන්ඩ් ෆොරීන් ට්‍රේඩ්ස් පීඑල්සී
5. ඊස්ට් වෙස්ට් ප්‍රොපටීස් පීඑල්සී
6. ලකී ලංකා මිල්ක් ප්‍රොසෙසිං කම්පැනි පීඑල්සී
7. ඇඩම් කැපිටල් පීඑල්සී
8. රේඩියන්ට් ජෙම්ස් ඉන්ටර්නැෂනල් පීඑල්සී

http://biz.adaderana.lk/

ruwan326 wrote:

ලැයිස්තුගත සමාගම් 8 ක් කොටස් ගනුදෙනු තහනම් වීමේ අවදානමක

November, 29, 2018

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කොළඹ කොටස් වෙළෙඳපොළේ ලැයිස්තුගත සමාගම් 8 ක කොටස් ගනුදෙනු 2018 දෙසැම්බර් 10 වන දින සිට අත්හිටුවීමට පියවර ගන්නා බව වාර්තා වේ.

මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් කොළඹ කොටස් වෙළෙඳපොළ කියා සිටින්නේ 2018 මාර්තු 31 න් අවසන් මූල්‍ය වර්ෂ්‍ය සඳහා අදාළ වාර්ෂික වාර්තා ඉදිරිපත් කිරීමට මෙම සමාගම් අසමත් වී ඇති බැවින් මෙකී පියවර ගන්නා බවයි.

මෙහිදී වැඩිදුරටත් කොළඹ කොටස් වෙළෙඳපොළ පවසන්නේ 2018 දෙසැම්බර් 07 වන දිනය හෝ ඊට ප්‍රථම මෙම මූල්‍ය වාර්තා ලබා දීමට එම සමාගම් අපොහොසත් වුවහොත් දෙසැම්බර් 10 වන දින සිට කොටස් වෙළෙඳපොළ ගනුදෙනු අත්හිටුවීමට පියවර ගන්නා බවයි.

මෙලෙස කොටස් ගනුදෙනු අත්හිටුවීමේ අවදානයට ලක්ව ඇති සමාගම් පහත පරිදි වේ.

1. ඇඩම් ඉන්වෙස්ට්මන්ට්ස් පීඑල්සී
2. අනිලානා හොටේල්ස් ඇන්ඩ් ප්‍රොපටීස් පීඑල්සී
3. බ්ලූ ඩයමන්ඩ් ජුවලරි වර්ල්ඩ්වයිඩ් පීඑල්සී
4. සිලෝන් ඇන්ඩ් ෆොරීන් ට්‍රේඩ්ස් පීඑල්සී
5. ඊස්ට් වෙස්ට් ප්‍රොපටීස් පීඑල්සී
6. ලකී ලංකා මිල්ක් ප්‍රොසෙසිං කම්පැනි පීඑල්සී
7. ඇඩම් කැපිටල් පීඑල්සී
8. රේඩියන්ට් ජෙම්ස් ඉන්ටර්නැෂනල් පීඑල්සී

http://biz.adaderana.lk/

https://cdn.cse.lk/cmt/upload_cse_announcements/471543465270_.pdf

There were several relief measures given to people and CSE too saw a silver lining at the end of dark tunnel during the interim rule of MR. Now the future is ???????????????????????????????????????????
UNP means 'BLOOD BATH' for CSE!

samaritan wrote:There were several relief measures given to people and CSE too saw a silver lining at the end of dark tunnel during the interim rule of MR. Now the future is ???????????????????????????????????????????
UNP means 'BLOOD BATH' for CSE!

Will not be surprised if 'RED' dominates CSE until a stable govt is established.

Political crisis speeds up dollar outflows
10 December 2018

The ongoing unprecedented political crisis has triggered a faster outflow of dollars from Sri Lanka’s debt and capital markets as per the latest provisional data.  

Wealth Trust Securities said the week ended 5 December saw a foreign outflow of Rs. 17 billion, the highest in 23 months whilst the stock market witnessed a near Rs. 1 billion flight last week.

According to Central Bank data, the bond market saw outflows of about Rs. 51.2 billion between 25 October and 5 December whilst in the stock market foreigners have been net sellers to the tune of Rs. 9.6 billion since President Maithripala Sirisena removed the sitting Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on 26 October and appointed his former political rival Mahinda Rajapaksa to the position. Analysts said that outflows from both the debt and capital market have accelerated since the beginning of the crisis and the political impasse which has followed for over six weeks. 

To date, the outflow from the government securities market is a staggering Rs. 144 billion (the value since the crisis amounts to over 35% of the cumulative figure) and net selling from the Colombo Bourse is over Rs. 19 billion.  The Central Bank however pinned the outflow to the “ongoing portfolio rebalancing strategy of foreign investors”.

It said in September the government securities market continued to experience a withdrawal of foreign investments, recording a net outflow of $ 152 million, thus raising the net cumulative outflow to $ 468 million by the end of the first nine months of 2018. Foreign investments in the CSE, including both secondary and primary market foreign exchange flows, recorded a net outflow of $ 7 million in September and on a cumulative basis to $ 37 million in the first nine months of 2018. In September, long-term loans to the government recorded a net outflow of $ 63 million as loan repayments exceeded loan inflows.

As at end-September 2018, gross official reserves were estimated at $ 7.2 billion, equivalent to 3.8 months of imports. Total foreign assets, which consist of gross official reserves and foreign assets of the banking sector, amounted to $ 9.6 billion as at end-September 2018, equivalent to 5.1 months of imports.

The rupee, which was under severe pressure last month, strengthened marginally last week. It ended at 178.70/85 per dollar on Friday, compared with 179.15/20 in the previous session. It gained to 178.50 during the trade due to dollar inflows from remittances.

Wealth Trust Securities said the US dollar on its spot contracts was seen closing the week higher at Rs. 178.60/90 against its previous week’s closing of Rs. 178.80/10, on the back of inward remittances and selling interest by banks.

The rupee has weakened by about 3.1% since the political crisis began and fell 1.8% in November and 16.3% so far this year. It hit a record low of 180.85 per dollar on 28 November. 

The Central Bank argued that the weakening of the Sri Lankan rupee against the US dollar mostly reflects a broad-based strengthening of the US dollar globally, outflows from the government securities market and demand for import expenditure in the foreign exchange market.

Another worrying development is the depressed performance of workers’ remittances. It declined year-on-year by 7.1% in September to $ 500 million and by 1.5% to $ 5.3 billion during the first nine months of 2018.

Expenditure on imports rose by 6.1% year-on-year to $ 1.76 billion in September and by 10.4% to $ 16.85 billion in the first nine months. On the other hand exports gained by 4.4% to $ 1.05 billion in September and by 5.6% to $ 8.9 billion in the first nine months. The trade deficit grew to $ 8 billion as against $ 6.8 billion in the first nine months of last year. 

Pressure on the external sector has resulted in the Balance of Payments being a negative $ 650 million for the first nine months of 2018 as against a positive $ 2 billion a year earlier.

As per the Central Bank, FDIs during the first eight months were $ 1.35 billion as against $ 567 million during the corresponding period of last year.

http://www.ft.lk/top-story/Political-crisis-speeds-up-dollar-outflows/26-668542

Best rules to follow at CSE under UNP rule:

BUYING IS BURNING CASH!
SELLING IS SAVING CASH!

Decision is yours to burn or save.

samaritan wrote:Best rules to follow at CSE under UNP rule:

BUYING IS BURNING CASH!
SELLING IS SAVING CASH!

Decision is yours to burn or save.

Reminder: Decision is yours to make.

samaritan wrote:Best rules to follow at CSE under UNP rule:

BUYING IS BURNING CASH!
SELLING IS SAVING CASH!

Decision is yours to burn or save.

So what is is the rule under MS-MR @CSE??????

Industrial Production Index up 2.8% in October
Thursday, December 13, 2018 


​
According to the Department of Census and Statistics, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) has increased by 2.8% in October 2018 in comparison to the same month in 2017. The IIP reported for the month of October in 2018 and 2017 were 111 and 108 respectively.

In terms of manufacturing industry 10 out of 20 industry groups have shown positive growth in volumes of production. The industry groups: Beverages, manufacture of other non metallic mineral products and manufacture of textiles have shown remarkable increase of 27.4%, 11.4% and 10 % respectively in their volume of production. The volume of food products has increased by 0.3%.



Among the 10 industries recorded a negative growth in volume of production of manufacturing industries: manufacture of paper products, manufacture of electrical equipments and manufacture of wood and products of wood and cork except furniture’ have reported negative growth rates of 37.4%, 24.2% and 20.9% respectively.

​​​​​​​http://www.dailynews.lk/2018/12/13/business/171187/industrial-production-index-28-october

Sri Lanka industrial activity up 2.8-pct in October

Dec 17, 2018 

Industrial activity in Sri Lanka grew 2.8 percent from a year earlier in October 2018 with growth across most major sectors, the state statistics office said.
The Index of Industrial Production compiled by the Census and Statistics Department grew to 111 points in October from 108.6 points a year earlier.
An index value over 100 shows a growth compared to the base year of 2015.

Activity during October is usually one of the highest, ahead of the December holiday season.
Food production, which is estimated to make up 35.2 percent of all value-added industrial activity, grew 0.3 percent from a year earlier to 104.9 points.
The second largest apparel manufacturing industry which encompasses 19.8 percent of activity, grew 8.2 percent to 122 points.

Manufactory of other non-metallic mineral products (7.8 percent of industrial activity) grew 11.4 percent to 123.2 points.
Coke and refined petroleum production, which is 7.4 percent of industrial activity, grew 8.5 percent to 114.4 points.
Rubber and plastic production manufacturing, the fifth largest industry with 5.7 percent of production, grew 6.4 percent to 119.9 points.

Beverage production was the highest growing industry in October, up 27.4 percent to 107.8 points. However, this made up just 3.8 percent of the country's industry.
Paper and paper products manufacturing (1.7 percent of industrial activity) fell 37.4 percent to 75.2 points.

​​​​​​​https://economynext.com/Sri_Lanka_industrial_activity_up_2.8_pct_in_October-3-12920-4.html

Hayleys Energy commences first oil and gas drillship lay-up at Hambantota, Sri Lanka 

Dec 17, 2018 


Sri Lanka’s Hayleys Energy Services announced the arrival of the oil and gas drillship “Aban Abraham” for a warm lay-up to the Hambantota International Port.
Aban Offshore Limited, the company that own the vessel, is India’s largest offshore drilling services provider to oil companies, providing drilling operations, production and exploratory work worldwide.

Hayleys Energy Services, a subsidiary of Sri Lankan blue-chip conglomerate Hayleys PLC’s transportation and logistics arm – Hayleys Advantis Limited, had competed with several players from established lay-up service destinations in the region to win the country’s first ever drill ship lay-up project.

Heralding Sri Lanka’s entry into the global oil and gas marine vessel lay-up services industry, this opens the doors to a world of new opportunities for the nation’s shipping industry.

“Projects of this nature have a significant impact on the economy as a whole, creating business and employment opportunities beyond the enterprises directly involved in it. The leadership, commitment and world class facilities of the Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG) have been a key factor in the success of this project bid and will go a long way in helping us attract long-term businesses such as this,” said Ruwan Waidyaratne, Managing Director – Hayleys Advantis Limited. He went on to say, “Whilst commending the Hayleys Energy Services team for successfully competing with service providers from across the region and bagging this project, I look forward to seeing them expand their horizons and soar to greater heights.”

Hayleys Energy Services has set up a permanent office within the Hambantota Port, at the 6^th floor of the Sayurupaya Building, the first by an Oil & Gas Services company at this port, in light of this landmark project and the opportunities it is set to bring with it.

Commenting about the initiative taken by Hayleys Energy Services, Saliya Wickramasuriya, Former Director General – Petroleum Resources Development Secretariat (PRDS) said, “Hambantota is an excellent location not just for a vehicle transhipment and break bulk hub, but also for a potential regional service and repair centre for the South Asian Oil & Gas industry. My congratulations to Hayleys Energy Services, long time partners with the PRDS in petroleum exploration and production, for kicking this concept off by bringing the drillship Aban Abraham to the port for long-term lay-up and refurbishment. This new area of business for Sri Lanka will help unlock the port’s full potential and no doubt increase employment and knowledge transfer opportunities for the people of Hambantota in the future.”

Meanwhile, Chas Charles, Director / Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Hayleys Energy Services said, “Having offered an extensive range of end-to-end logistics services for the Oil and Gas industry for over 10 years, we are excited to enter the lay-up services domain with this project, the first for a Sri Lankan company. This is indeed a proud moment for the entire Sri Lankan shipping industry.”

The Aban Abraham had called on the Hambantota International Port recently after completing a long drilling assignment in India. The almost 160 meters long vessel is capable of drilling at depths of up to 6,600 feet and has a drilling depth capacity of up to 24,600 feet. It is to be docked at the Port for a minimum of six months, during which lay-up support services and vessel preservation, husbandry, bunkering, crew management and several other marine services will be provided by Hayleys Energy Services.

“We are delighted to have been chosen for this project and would like to thank the management of Aban Offshore Ltd for placing their trust in us. This is indeed a reflection of our team’s knowledge, expertise and service commitment in the Oil & Gas domain. Having delivered complex integrated logistics services for several Oil and Gas projects, we look forward to completing a safe and efficient project by assisting Aban in their lay-up and preservation of the drillship Aban Abraham at Hambantota International Port, Sri Lanka” said Ricky Barnett, General Manager, Hayleys Energy Services. “We would also like to express our sincere appreciation to all stakeholders including the port’s managers – Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG / HIPS), Sri Lanka Immigration & Emigration Department, Sri Lanka Customs, Sri Lanka Navy and Sri Lanka Ports Authority for their continued support in making this historic project possible.”

Earlier this year, the company successfully completed two projects at the Trincomalee Port Anchorage – the offloading of the Semi-Submersible oil rig, Olinda Star and provision of agency services to the heavy lift carrier “GPO Grace” dry towing the Semi-Submersible oil rig “Louisiana” and they also went on to provide offshore ship to ship supplies/logistics services for Transocean Drillship “Dhirubhai Deepwater KG1” at the Colombo Port Anchorage.

Hayleys Energy Services is a subsidiary of Hayleys Advantis Limited, the transportation and logistics arm of Hayleys PLC. Through the wider logistics offering of Hayleys Advantis Limited, the Group caters to diverse logistics needs of its clientele. The company has provided logistics & support services for several projects in the Oil & Gas sector both locally and internationally including supply base management services, seismic and metocean surveys, exploratory drilling, rig repairs & servicing, duty free storage of drill rigs & transportation, and loading, offloading, towing and lay-up services for Oil & Gas rigs and marine asset.

​​​​​​​http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/hayleys-energy-services-commences-sri-lankas-first-oil-and-gas-drillship-lay-up-at-hambantota/

China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation and CDS Sri Lanka
Dec 18, 2018


Sri Lanka’s Central Depository Systems (Pvt) Ltd (CDS) and China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation Limited (CSDC) recently committed towards pursuing a cooperative relationship in the areas of securities clearing and depository.

This commitment was formalized with the signing of a MoU between the two depositories during a visit by CSDC officials to Sri Lankan recently.

CSDC is a non-profit-oriented corporation with Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange as its shareholders, each holding 50% equities.

As CDS and CSDC work together in future, the MoU will pave the way for the depositories to exchange information and expertise on business operating models and other securities market developments.

CSDC Deputy Chairman of the Board Dr. DAI Wenhua said “It is my great pleasure to sign this MoU in the beautiful city of Colombo, which bears vivid witness to the friendly relations that the Chinese and Sri Lankan people have long enjoyed. We appreciate the indispensable role that CDS plays in the Sri Lankan capital market as well as its constructive contribution to the industry in the Asia-Pacific region and look forward to closer ties between our two organizations. “

Commenting on the development, CSE and CDS Chairman Mr. Ray Abeywardena said “With this MoU, we are pleased to establish a formal channel of collaboration with CSDC, which is a depository that plays a crucial role in the Chinese capital market and the rest of the Asian region. We anticipate that the MoU will open new possibilities of collaboration between the two depositories. We are particularly keen to work with CSDC on further developing our clearing and settlement function, particularly in the areas of strengthening registration and settlement infrastructure, capacity building and improving the services offered to stakeholders of the Sri Lankan capital markets. Cooperation with peer depositories and international markets is essential to raising the bar in the Sri Lankan capital market and we pleased to collaborate with CSDC in this regard.”

CSDC is the Central Securities Depository (CSD), Securities Settlement System (SSS) and Central Counterparty (CCP) of the Chinese exchange market. It provides registration, depository, clearing and settlement services to equities, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETF) and other derivatives listed and traded on Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) and National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ), and plays a key role in cross-border linkage programmes including Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect and the Mutual Recognition of Funds between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong markets.

http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/china-securities-depository-and-clearing-corporation-and-cds-sri-lanka/

Sri Lanka Perspectives

Even the constitutional crisis and its questionable status did not deter the government from signing two contracts totaling more than $50 million with two Chinese firms. The contract worth $32 million with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) was to enhance the deep berth capacity of the state-run Jaya Container Terminal in Colombo. The other contract worth $25.7 million was for the supply of three cranes from Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries for the same project. India had expressed its concern at the deal earlier as  80 per cent of its marine trade passes through the port.

http://col.hariharan.info/

Mangala to retain Sri Lanka finance ministry

Dec 19, 2018 

Sri Lanka’s new cabinet is expected to be sworn in Thursday with Mangala Samaraweera retaining the finance and media portfolio in a 30-member cabinet.
Official sources said there was serious wrangling with President Maithripala before Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe could get his list of 30 approved.

There was intense speculation about the law and order ministry with Sirisena insisting that he wanted to retain the subject of the police department under the defence ministry which he controls.
Several ministers of the National Unity Government were being dropped to meet the constitutional requirement of limiting cabinet posts to 30.

Earlier in the week Malik Samarawickrema, Rishad Bathiudeen and Mano Ganeshan had offered to stay out to allow Wickremesinghe to name a scaled down cabinet. 

​​​​​​​https://economynext.com/Mangala_to_retain_Sri_Lanka_finance_ministry-3-12951-10.html

New cabinet

Sri Lanka is not Greece, it is a Latin America style soft-peg: Bellwether

By Bellwether

Dec 26, 2018

​

FLOATING INTEREST:  The IMF team (or at least one person who knew pegs), that went into Argentina eventually blew the lid off the 7-day Leliq (term reverse repo rate) after the central bank continued to intervene and print money (sterilize) even with rates at 60-percent.

There are pronouncements that Sri Lanka is like Greece from both sides of the political divide, but that is not correct. Sri Lanka has a Latin America style soft-peg which can put the country on a dangerous slippery slope unlike a strong floating rate like the Euro.

Greece had a debt rollover problem like Sri Lanka and went into sovereign default. There was no problem with the currency or private debt default or disappearing incomes.

The central bank has put Sri Lanka in a Latin America style strait-jacket. Sri Lanka escaped the worst LatAm effects up to now, because there was no large commercial debt. But from 2005, after Sri Lanka started tapping international bond markets everything changed.

What is Greece?

Greece had a monetary union with a strong floating exchange rate, which was the Euro. When it came to light that the Greece had been fudging debt numbers, amid an economic downturn, lenders refused to roll-over debt and there was sovereign default.

Cont... https://economynext.com/Sri_Lanka_is_not_Greece,_it_is_a_Latin_America_style_soft_peg__Bellwether-3-12995-2.html