By Ifham Nizam

‘We cannot really talk about a resilient blue economy, we cannot really talk about a regenerative blue economy if we do not set the stage for regeneration and the maintenance of these ecosystem services.’

Prof. Terney Pradeep Kumara, Director General of the Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management Department, issued this cautionary message as experts from the government, financial, tourism, aquaculture and conservation sectors called for a fundamental rethink of how the country exploits its vast marine resources.

He made the remarks at a high-level panel discussion on ‘The Next Wave of Blue Growth: Private Sector Entry Points for Productive Investment, Conservation, CSR and Blue Finance’, held during ‘Biodiversity Sri Lanka’s Biodiversity Action Forum 2026’ at the Shangri-La, Colombo recently.

Kumara said the natural ecosystems underpinning the blue economy must be treated as the country’s productive infrastructure, rather than as resources that can be endlessly exploited.

The country’s more than 1,350-kilometre coastline and vast Exclusive Economic Zone encompass a remarkable mosaic of mangroves, mudflats, lagoons, sandy and rocky shores, coral reefs and seagrass ecosystems, he said.

‘These different ecosystems, with their unique service provision, are providing the infrastructure for blue growth, Kumara said, questioning whether the country was adequately protecting and maintaining that infrastructure.

He stressed that a genuinely regenerative blue economy could not be built by concentrating only on individual marine protected areas.

‘What we have are landscapes, reefscapes or seascapes where mosaics of ecosystems are interlinked together with the socio-economics of our own systems, he said.

Marine protected areas should therefore serve as cornerstones, while marine spatial planning and wider seascape management must determine how conservation, industry, fisheries, tourism and other activities can coexist.

Sivalingam Sivakanthan, Head of MIS, Strategic Planning and Sustainability at DFCC Bank, said the bank’s issuance of Sri Lanka’s first-ever blue bond in 2025, raising nearly Rs. 3 billion (USD 10 million), demonstrated that investors were willing to put money into sustainable marine and coastal initiatives.

But he warned that simply raising capital was not enough.

‘We don’t want to consider it merely as an instrument for finance. Instead, we want to essentially set the stage for something which is credible, Sivakanthan said.

A credible blue finance framework, he explained, requires a clear definition of eligible projects, a strong pipeline of investable initiatives, robust governance and, critically, the ability to demonstrate measurable environmental and social impacts.

Entrepreneur Shan Meemanage offered perhaps the clearest illustration of how conservation and commercial interests could converge.

‘I was not thinking anything about sustainability. All I was thinking was profits. That’s private sector, right? he told the forum.

He described how his company developed hatchery production, stocked reservoirs and established buy-back arrangements with fishermen, eventually expanding the model to more than 100 reservoirs.

The tourism sector, too, has substantial room to diversify its relationship with the ocean, said Harshini de Silva Pandithasekaran, Head of Sustainability at Aitken Spence Hotels.

She said the industry remained heavily dependent on the conventional “sun, sea and sand” tourism model despite the extraordinary diversity of Sri Lanka’s coastal landscapes and marine ecosystems.

Pandithasekaran noted that international visitors often appreciated the geographical and ecological character of destinations — including bays, coastal formations and other natural features — providing opportunities to develop more diversified and nature-based tourism experiences.

From CSR to long-term conservation partnerships

Moderated by Dr. Sandun Perera, Programme Coordinator of IUCN Sri Lanka and Director of Biodiversity Sri Lanka, the session sought to move the conversation beyond conventional corporate social responsibility towards long-term conservation partnerships that deliver measurable outcomes.

By Hiran H. Senewiratne

The CSE’s benchmark All Share Price Index moved down 0.08 percent yesterday due to selling pressure, marking an uneventful start to September.

The ASPI was down 20.38 points while the more liquid S&P SL20 was down 0.34 percent, or 20.36 points.

Market turnover was Rs 2.32 billion with five crossings but Food, Beverage & Tobacco led turnover with Rs 400.53 million. Those crossings were: JKH 20.7 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 408 million; its shares traded at Rs 19.70, Watawala Plantations one million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 42.5 million; its shares traded at Rs 42.50, Sampath Bank 200,000 shares crossed for Rs 28 million; its shares traded at Rs 138.50, Three Acre Farm 42000 shares crossed for Rs 26 million; its shares sold at Rs 620 and CCS 170,000 shares crossed for Rs 20 million; its shares traded at Rs 120.50.

In the retail market companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were; Dialog Axiata Rs 245 million (5.3 million shares traded), JKH Rs 157 million (8 million shares traded), Commercial Credit and Finance Rs 146 million (1.3 million shares traded), CCS Rs 136 million (1.1 million shares traded), Asia Siyaka Rs 86 million (5.8 million shares traded), Brown’s Investments Rs 74 million (13 million shares traded) and Haycarb Rs 65 million (334,000 shares traded). During the day 97 million share volumes changed hands in 17683 transactions.

Positive contributors to the ASPI were; Browns Investments (up 7.55 percent at Rs 5.70), Vallibel One (up 2.03 percent at Rs 90.30), Singer (Sri Lanka) (up 2.78 percent at Rs 81.20 ), Access Engineering (up 0.94 percent at Rs 75.10 ) and Ceylon Cold Stores (up 1.25 percent at Rs 121.75).

JKH (down 2.01 percent at Rs 19.50 ), DFCC Bank (down 1.76 percent at Rs 125.75 ), Dialog Axiata (down 0.86 percent at Rs 46.00), and Aitken Spence (down 1.41 percent at Rs 140.00) were top negative contributors.

It is said that manufacturing sector counters, especially JKH and plantations related sectors, especially Watawela Plantations, Asian Siyaka and Tree Acres farms performed well at the floor.

Meanwhile, Kapruka Holdings disclosed a proposed variation in the application of its IPO funds.

The company’s management concluded that launching a personal cargo market place was not commercially viable and recommended reallocating Rs 50 million of unutilized IPO proceeds toward working capital requirements, subject to shareholder approval at the upcoming AGM.

Kapruka Holdings shares closed up 1.07 percent at Rs 18.90.

Renuka Holdings announced a first and final scrip dividend of Rs 0.212 per voting and non-voting share for the financial year ended March 31, 2026, subject to shareholder approval at its Annual General Meeting on September 24, 2026.Renuka Holdings shares were trading down 6.84 percent at Rs 42.20.

Yesterday the rupee was quoted at Rs 327.90/328.05 to the US dollar in the spot market, stronger from Rs 328.10/30 the previous day, while bond yields were down particularly on the belly end of the actively quoted tenors, dealers said.

The external current account recorded a deficit of US$142 million in July 2026, remaining in the deficit for the fourth consecutive month reflecting the impact of developments in the Middle East. Consequently, the cumulative current account recorded a deficit of US$ 387 million during January-July 2026, compared to a surplus during the corresponding period of 2025.

The merchandise trade deficit widened on a year-on-year basis in July 2026, driven by higher import expenditure and lower export earnings. Accordingly, the cumulative trade deficit widened to US$ 6.5 billion during January–July 2026, compared to US$ 3.9 billion in the corresponding period of 2025.

Monthly fuel import expenditure declined marginally from US$ 465 million in June 2026 to US$ 453 million in July 2026. However, expenditure on fuel imports increased by 68.0% (year-on-year) in July 2026, mainly driven by higher expenditure on crude oil imports. Cumulative fuel import expenditure amounted to approximately US$ 3,622 million during January–July 2026, recording a 59.9% (year-on-year) increase compared to the corresponding period of 2025.

Expenditure on motor vehicle imports, including both personal and commercial vehicles, amounted to US$ 241 million in July 2026. Meanwhile, cumulative expenditure on motor vehicle imports amounted to US$ 1,495 million during January–July 2026.

The terms of trade deteriorated on a year-on-year basis in July 2026, as import prices increased at a faster pace than export prices. Similarly, the terms of trade deteriorated during January–July 2026 compared to the corresponding period of 2025.

The services account recorded a surplus of US$ 244 million in July 2026, representing a year-on-year decline of 23.0%. However, the surplus increased by 50.7% compared with the previous month, mainly driven by higher tourism earnings. Reflecting the year-on-year continuous moderation in the monthly services account surplus, the cumulative services account surplus decreased by 22.4% to US$ 1.8 billion during January-July 2026.

Tourist arrivals declined marginally by 1.7% year-on-year in July 2026. Total arrivals during January-July 2026 amounted to 1,343,418, compared to 1,368,288 arrivals recorded during the corresponding period of 2025. Meanwhile, tourism earnings were estimated at US$ 286 million in July 2026, reflecting a 10.3% decline from a year earlier, while recording an 88.9% increase on a month-on-month basis. Cumulative tourism earnings during January-July 2026 declined by 11.5% to US$ 1.8 billion, compared to the corresponding period of 2025.

Workers’ remittances increased by 11.5% year-on-year to US$ 778 million in July 2026. Consequently, cumulative remittances during the first seven months of 2026 rose by 21.4% on year-on-year basis to US$ 5.4 billion.

Foreign investment in the government securities market recorded a notable net inflow of US$ 159.4 million, while foreign investment in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), including both primary and secondary market transactions, recorded a marginal net outflow of US$ 6.3 million during the month of July 2026.

Gross official reserves (GOR), including the swap facility with the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), were recorded at US$ 6.6 billion by end July 2026, supported by foreign exchange purchases by the Central Bank.

By end August 2026, the Sri Lanka rupee depreciated by 5.5% against the US dollar on a year-to-date basis. Despite the overall depreciation, the Sri Lanka rupee appreciated somewhat in recent weeks, reflecting the impact of recently implemented monetary, fiscal and macroprudential policy measures.

Provisional

The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority has revised the methodology of compiling monthly earnings from tourism estimates in May 2026 to enhance the accuracy and representativeness of such estimates incorporating country-specific data on tourist arrivals, average daily expenditure, and average duration of stay. The revised methodology has been applied retrospectively to monthly estimates from January 2026 onwards. Accordingly, monthly estimates on earnings from tourism for January – April 2026 have been revised.

Includes primary and secondary market transactions

Includes valuation changes that impact reserve asset position (CBSL)