Bank profits to shoot up by 30-40% this year

Maintaining ‘Investment Fund Accounts’ concerns Association

 By Azhar Razak

Sri Lanka’s banking sector is likely to record a sharp 30-40 percent increase in after-tax profits in 2011 following recent measures taken by the government to reduce taxes and gradually lower provisions, analysts predict. Effective tax rates applicable for banks is expected to come down to about 40-45 percent from a high of 55-60 percent witnessed in previous years while recent policy initiatives taken by the banking regulator to strengthen the financial system is also likely to provide a good environment to do business, they opine.

TRC to set minimum speed standard for ISPs this month

Vows to take strict action on false advertising

By Azhar Razak 

Sri Lanka’s telecom regulator, the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) says it will, in future, deal strictly with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) if they fail to provide customers the broadband speeds they advertise.