Business
Seylan Bank partners with STAREMIT to facilitate convenient remittances for Sri Lankans in South Korea

Seylan Bank, the Bank with a Heart announced its partnership with South Korea’s STAREMIT, enabling a convenient real-time money transfer option for Sri Lankans in South Korea. The partnership comes at the opportune time when many Sri Lankan expatriates have chosen to send money to Sri Lanka to support the nation, and Seylan Bank’s dedicated remittance opportunity makes it safe and affordable to transfer funds into the country.
Expatriate Sri Lankans can use the STAREMIT app to conveniently carry out transactions 24/7 through a smart device, for a “ZERO fee” until the 30th of November 2021, incurring no commission costs from either party, when remitting funds to or through Seylan Bank. Senders will be able to leverage on competitive exchange rates, and receive an additional Rs. 2 above the rate for every dollar remitted. The exchange takes place in real-time, with money credited to any bank account in Sri Lanka.
“At a time when foreign exchange inflows are invaluable to the country, Seylan Bank is proud to be able to provide convenient and affordable options for Sri Lankans living overseas to make their remittances. The partnership with STAREMIT opens up our facilities for the many Sri Lankans working in South Korea, to safely send money to their loved ones back at home. As the Bank with a Heart, we will continue to grow strategic partnerships with financial institutions worldwide, to provide the best service to our customers.” stated Malik Wickramanayake, Deputy General Manager – Operations Seylan Bank.
STAREMIT joins the strong lineup of international remittances partners of Seylan Bank, through whom the Bank facilitates convenient remittance services for Sri Lankans living and working abroad. As a customer-centric bank, Seylan focuses on overseas Sri Lankans and their loved ones’ back home, providing the most on their transactions with multiple added benefits. Seylan invites its valued customers to experience the unparalleled remittance services provided by the bank, ensuring the best benefits through their many inward remittance partners including Seycash, RIA, Western Union, Transfast, Instant Cash, Unistream, Cash Express, Speed Send, Intel Express, Placid Express to name a few.
For more information on the platform and its services please visit www.seylan.lk or WhatsApp the Seylan Bank 24/7 hotline on +94 772008888.
Seylan Bank, the Bank with a Heart, operates with a vision to offer the ultimate banking experience to its valued customers through cutting-edge technology, innovative products, and best-in-class services. The Bank has a growing clientele of SMEs, Retail and Corporate Customers, and has expanded its footprint with 172 branches, 70 Cash Deposit Machines, 86 Cheque Deposit Machines and an ATM network of 216 units across the country. Seylan Bank has been endorsed as a financially stable organization with performance excellence across the board by Fitch Ratings, with the bank’s national long-term rating revised to ‘A’ (lka). The bank was ranked second among public listed companies for transparency in corporate reporting by Transparency Global and is now part of the S&P Dow Jones SL 20 Index. These achievements are a testament to Seylan Bank’s financial stability and unwavering dedication to ensuring excellence across all aspects.
Business
IMF Executive Board approves US$3 Billion under the Extended Fund Facility arrangement for Sri Lanka

• The IMF Board approved a 48-month extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility
(EFF) of SDR 2.286 billion (about US$3 billion) to support Sri Lanka’s economic policies and reforms.
• The objectives of the EFF-supported program are to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, safeguarding financial stability, and stepping up structural reforms to unlock Sri Lanka’s growth potential. All program measures are mindful of the need to protect the most vulnerable and improving governance.
• Close collaboration between Sri Lanka and all its creditors will be critical to expedite a debt treatment that will restore debt sustainability consistent with program parameters.
Washington, DC:
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a 48-month extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with an amount of SDR 2.286 billion (395 percent of quota or about US$3 billion).
Sri Lanka has been hit hard by a catastrophic economic and humanitarian crisis. The economy is facing significant challenges stemming from pre-existing vulnerabilities and policy missteps in the lead up to the crisis, further aggravated by a series of external shocks.
The EFF-supported program aims to restore Sri Lanka’s macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, mitigate the economic impact on the poor and vulnerable, safeguard financial sector stability, and strengthen governance and growth potential. The Executive Board’s decision will enable an immediate disbursement equivalent to SDR 254 million (about US$333 million) and catalyze financial support from other development partners.
Following the Executive Board discussion on Sri Lanka, Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, issued the following statement:
“Sri Lanka has been facing tremendous economic and social challenges with a severe recession amid high inflation, depleted reserves, an unsustainable public debt, and heightened financial sector vulnerabilities. Institutions and governance frameworks require deep reforms. For Sri Lanka to overcome the crisis, swift and timely implementation of the EFF-supported program with strong ownership for the reforms is critical.
“Ambitious revenue-based fiscal consolidation is necessary for restoring fiscal and debt sustainability while protecting the poor and vulnerable. In this regard, the momentum of ongoing progressive tax reforms should be maintained, and social safety nets should be strengthened and better targeted to the poor. For the fiscal adjustments to be successful, sustained fiscal institutional reforms on tax administration, public financial and expenditure management, and energy pricing are critical.
“Having obtained specific and credible financing assurances from major official bilateral creditors, it is now important for the authorities and creditors to make swift progress towards restoring debt sustainability consistent with the IMF-supported program. The authorities’ commitments to transparently achieve a debt resolution, consistent with the program parameters and equitable burden sharing among creditors in a timely fashion, are welcome.
“Sri Lanka should stay committed to the multi-pronged disinflation strategy to safeguard the credibility of its inflation targeting regime. As the market regains confidence, the authorities’ recent introduction of greater exchange rate flexibility will help to rebuild the reserve buffer.
“Maintaining a sound and adequately capitalized banking system is important. Implementing a bank recapitalization plan and strengthening financial supervision and crisis management framework are crucial to ensure financial sector stability.
“The ongoing efforts to tackle corruption should continue, including revamping anti-corruption legislation. A more comprehensive anti-corruption reform agenda should be guided by the ongoing IMF governance diagnostic mission that conducts an assessment of Sri Lanka’s anticorruption and governance framework. The authorities should step up growth-enhancing structural reforms with technical assistance support from development partners.”
https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/03/20/pr2379-imf-executive-board-approves-underthe-new-eff-arrangement-for-sri-lanka
Business
SLT and Lanka Hospitals share prices in sharp appreciation following divestment approval

By Hiran H. Senewiratne
Sri Lanka Telecom and Lanka Hospitals PLC were attracting investors yesterday as a disclosure was put out stating that the Cabinet of Ministers had approved the divestment of the stake held by the Secretary to the Treasury in SLT, stock market sources said.
The divestment is to be implemented by the State Owned Enterprises Restructuring Unit under the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies. Following the statement, share prices of both companies appreciated significantly. Sri Lanka Telecom shares appreciated by Rs 10.70 or 13 per cent. Its share price shot up to Rs 95.30 from Rs 84.60 and Lanka Hospitals shares appreciated by Rs 8.50 or eight per cent; its share price shot up to Rs 120 from Rs 111.50.
Amid these developments the CSE started on a positive note. Later it indicated a negative trend following marginal profit- takings and also mainly due to the IMF statement on tax reforms that created a panic situation among the corporate sector and investors, stock market analysts said .
“The market is down and dull, because as expected Sri Lanka got the IMF bailout and now investors are pushing to sell off their shares and attempting to make a profit, stock market analysts added.
The All- Share Price Index was down 95.53 points, while the most liquid S&P SL20 was down 57.82 points. Turnover stood at Rs 1.47 billion sans any crossings. In the retail market top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were; SLT Rs 236 million (2.5 million shares traded), Browns Investments Rs 123 million (17.9 million shares traded), Expolanka Holdings Rs 119 million (868,000 shares traded), Distilleries Rs 77.3 million (3.6 million shares traded), Hayleys Rs 54.9 million (674,000 shares traded), Softlogic Capital Rs 51.7 million (4.2 million shares traded) and Capital Alliance Rs 47.8 million (1.5 million shares traded). During the day 78.9 million share volumes changed hands in 22000 transactions.
It is said that high net worth and institutional investor participation was noted in Hemas Holdings, Hayleys and JKH. Mixed interest was observed in Access Engineering, Expolanka Holdings and Sri Lanka Telecom, while retail interest was noted in Browns Investments, LOLC Finance and Union Bank.
The Capital Goods sector was the top contributor to the market turnover (due to Hemas Holdings, JKH, Hayleys and Access Engineering), while the sector index edged up by 0.08 per cent. The share price of Hemas Holdings decreased by Rs. 2.60 to Rs. 65.40. The share price of JKH moved up by one rupee to Rs. 145. The share price of Hayleys closed flat at Rs. 81. The share price of Access Engineering appreciated by 90 cents (6 per cent) to Rs. 15.90.
The Food, Beverage & Tobacco sector was the second highest contributor to the market turnover (due to Browns Investments), while the sector index increased by 1.83 per cent. The share price of Browns Investments gained 50 cents (7.81per cent) to Rs. 6.90.
According to analysts, with the IMF agreement being finalized, market analysts expect inflation to get on to a path of deflation, balance of payments to be stabilized and interest rates to be pushed downwards.
Yesterday, the Central Bank’s US dollar buying rate was Rs 316.84 and the selling rate Rs 334.93.
Business
‘Sew Desatama Dialog’ initiative commissions new tower in Gonapathirawa, Anuradhapura

Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s widest network, recently commissioned the Gonapathirawa tower in the Anuradhapura district, as part of its commitment to expanding connectivity to villages and deep rural communities across the country via its “Sew Desatama Dialog” initiative.
The commissioning of towers under Sew Desatama Dialog has improved overall connectivity in the country and as a result it facilitates better communication, accessible educational resources while improving the quality of lives in Sri Lanka. In addition to the Gonapathirawa tower, additional towers were also built in Sangattewa and Labunoruwa in the Anuradhapura district along with towers in Habarana Galoya, Habarana Minneriya, and Magulpokuna in the Polonnaruwa district.
Dialog has connected over 180 Grama Niladhari divisions and surpassed 4,700 mobile 4G sites in its network by the end of 2022, the highest ever tower count recorded in Sri Lanka, as a result of its ongoing efforts to expand coverage and support customers during these unprecedented times. Dialog has also achieved 95% 4G Data population coverage, using Green Field towers to rapidly expand its coverage to deep rural communities and Lamp Pole solutions to meet urgent capacity requirements in dense areas.
Dialog’s dedication to expanding its coverage footprint has been recognized by global network testing leaders, coveting the titles of ‘Best 4G coverage experience’ and ‘Fastest upload and download Speed experience’ from Open Signal.
Representatives of Dialog at the site of the newly commissioned tower under the ‘Sew Desatama Dialog’ initiative in Gonapathirawa, Anuradhapura
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