Business
SL outperformed international peers on economic performance in 2020, says Central Bank

by Sanath Nanayakkare
In 2020, the performance of the Sri Lankan economy beat expectations of multilateral agencies, a Central Bank report released to the media stated yesterday.
The IMF projected Sri Lanka’s GDP projection for 2020 at -4.6%, while the World Bank and Asian Development Bank projected it would be -6.7% and -5.5% respectively, but the Central Bank of Sri Lanka made its GDP projection at -3.6% which turned out to be the real figure for the year, the Central Bank said.
The second wave of COVID-19 posed further setbacks in October/November 2020, but the economy is steadily progressing as displayed in latest economic indicators, it said.
Some indicators and details gleaned from the report are as follows.
COVID-19 pandemic has been contained to a large extent with the reported 90,514 Covid-19 infection cases and 551 deaths to date, while the local immunisation drive is continuing in the country allowing space for the economy to progress steadily.
The country is experiencing the third consecutive year of bumper paddy harvest. Tea production has returned to the levels observed in 2019. Rubber production is on an upward trend.Coconut production has recovered to a great extent. Electricity generation has normalised.
Data usage has shown strong growth, highlighting continuity of economic activity through online platforms and work-from-home arrangements. Local cement production has shown strong growth, depicting positive sentiments in the sector.
Industrial production has reached pre-pandemic levels with purchasing managers’indices show positive sentiments across manufacturing and services. Export earnings recovered, while imports remained subdued. narrowing the trade deficit.
Also backed with a notable rebound in workers’ remittances, the external current account deficit improved.
Despite the setback in 2020, a strong pipeline of FDI inflows awaits, particularly with the introduction of the Colombo Port City Commission law.
Recent policy measures have enabled a gradual absorption of forex related to workers’ remittances and exports proceeds, towards building forex reserves.
Debt servicing obligations were duly met, dispelling adverse speculation and uncertainties caused by the unwarranted sovereign rating downgrades.
The Colombo Stock Exchange displayed its potential as business confidence has retuirned.
Given subdued levels of inflation and inflation expectations, the Central Bank conducted monetary policy with a focus on supporting the economic recovery.
Monetary policy easing measures have resulted in historically low interest rates, thereby passing the benefit of low inflation to entrepreneurs.
Credit to the private sector is expanding as expansionary policies have been supported by well managed inflation and inflation expectations.
The novel economic model of the government is focused on strengthening macroeconomic fundamentals to realize economic aspirations for 2021.
Macroeconomic aspirations for 2021:
GDP Growth 6%, Per Capita GDP US$ 4,000, Trade Gap US$ 4 bn, External Current Account Surplus US$ 500 mn, Official Reserves US$ 5.5 bn, Budget Deficit 8.9% of GDP, Foreign Share of Debt to GDP 35% of GDP, Private Sector Credit Growth Rs. 850 billion and inflation 4.6%.
Business
Share investors worried over Wealth and Heritage tax

By Hiran H Senewiratne
CSE trading kicked off on a positive note yesterday but the momentum could not be sustained for long owing to investor worries that the government is planning domestic debt restructuring involving the imposition of a wealth and heritage tax on citizens, market sources said.
Amid those developments both indices moved downwards. The All -Share Price Index went down by 131 points and S and P SL-20 declined by 46.8 points. Turnover stood at Rs 3.4 billion with four crossings. Those crossings were reported in Agalawattte Plantations, which crossed 45.3 million shares to the tune of Rs 1.5 billion, its shares traded at Rs 35, CTC 420,000 shares crossed for Rs 269 million and its shares traded at Rs 640, Cargills 100,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 24.5 million; its shares traded at Rs 245 and Hayleys 300,000 shares crossed for Rs 24 million; its shares traded at Rs 80.
In the retail market top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were, SLT Rs 234 million (two million shares traded), Hayleys RS 121 million (1.5 million shares traded), Lanka IOC Rs 106 million (115,000 shares traded), Softlogic Capital Rs 69 million (5.6 million shares traded), CTC Rs 65.3 million (101,000 shares traded), Sampath Bank RS 54.7 million (one million shares traded) and Commercial Bank RS 52.5 million (801,000 shares traded).During the day 164 million share volumes changed hands in 20000 transactions.
Business
Brandix ‘RightToRead’ initiative gains momentum enriching Sri Lanka students and transforming learning

Inspired by the challenge to provide Sri Lankan children with better access to learning materials and the transformative power to read and comprehend English, Brandix launched the ‘RightToRead’ project in 2018 in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.
Accordingly, Brandix introduced the ‘ReadToMe’ English learning tool, created by English Helper – India, to improve reading and comprehension skills of Sri Lankan students. Last Monday, Julie Chung, the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, visited Susamayawardhana Vidyalaya in Borella, to observe progress of the project and experience how children and educators in Sri Lanka engage with educational technology.
Brandix Lanka Limited, Director, Ajit Johnpillai, said: “Education is the most powerful tool to enrich communities and futures, and Brandix is committed to build a strong foundation for transformational learning for students across Sri Lanka. The progress we have made with RiteToRead over the past two years is promising, and the potential for change in the education sector harnessing such digital technologies is immeasurable. Brandix will continue its commitment to deliver Inspired Solutions for the people of Sri Lanka.”
Business
Dialog TV Boosts Resilience and Capacity with Norsat Satellite Earth Station

Hytera, a leading global provider of professional communications technologies and solutions, is proud to announce the successful deployment of a new backup satellite station for Dialog TV, Sri Lanka’s No.1 satellite Pay TV service provider. The project was fulfilled in 2022 by Hytera and its subsidiary specialized in Satellite Communications (SatCom), Norsat International Inc. The new station enhances the resilience and capacity of Dialog TV’s existing system and ensures continuity of service in the event of damage due to natural disasters.
Dialog TV provides coverage over the entirety of Sri Lanka through the Intelsat 38 Ku-band satellite. As the business expanded, it opted for a backup solution to support its existing satellite station and to strengthen the network’s disaster tolerance.
Hytera and Norsat provided an end-to-end satellite earth station solution that includes the installation, integration, and setup of satellite antennas, a transmission and receiving system, a new network management system (NMS), and a carrier monitoring system (CMS). The NMS makes routine work easier and simpler for on-duty staff, as equipment status, parameter monitoring and configuration, and remote control of the devices can be viewed and accomplished via a single interface. The CMS monitors the carrier spectrum status of satellite signals in real-time and ensures stable signal transmission and receiving.
“We are excited to have been able to work with Dialog TV on this important project,” said Kevin Sun, Sales Director for Hytera South Asia, “Our ability to seamlessly integrate our new equipment and software with Dialog TV’s existing systems has helped to ensure a stable and reliable service for their millions of customers across Sri Lanka.”
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