Ranil warns govt on remittance dependency

Ranil Wickremasinghe

Leader of the House and Minister of Irrigation and Water Resource Management, Nimal Siripala de Silva says that although Sri Lanka’s private sector has done very well in certain areas in the past, they lagged behind in areas such as social responsibility where they could play a wider role in helping the government reduce income inequality and human resource development.

Addressing corporate leaders at the Business Today Top 25 Awards ceremony held at the Colombo Hilton last week, the Minister noted that with the war being over, the island now faces a bigger challenge on how it could push the poor people, who are below the poverty line, to the middle income group.

Sri Lanka's big corporates lack export hunger - Hilmy

The head of international management consultancy firm, MTI Consulting, Hilmy Cader claims that one of the reasons why Sri Lanka does not perform well in its export industry is because the island’s big corporates lack hunger for exports. Addressing a forum  organized by the Exporters’ Association of Sri Lanka, Cader analyzing the top 40 CSE capitalized companies said that out of the top 40, only three companies have a significant dependence on International income whilst the others are not entirely dependent except for Carsons, Hayleys and Colombo Dockyard.

Tussle shifts to Deputy as Kalmunai Mayor bows down

Newly appointed KMC Mayor Nizam Kariyapper (extreme right) shakes hands with a little dejected former Mayor Siraz Meerasahib in the presence of SLMC Leader Rauff Hakeem and SLMC General Secretary Hasan Ali

The dispute for the Mayoral position in the Kalmunai Municipal Council (KMC) came to a grinding halt on Friday morning with the incumbent Siraz Meerasahib finally tendering his resignation letter to the Party Leader Minister Rauff Hakeem. Hours after Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Leader received the letter at his residence in Colombo, Minister Hakeem convened a press conference at 'Darussalam', the SLMC headquarters in Colombo elevating the Mayoral position to Attorney-at-Law and senior party member Nizam Kariyapper who had been functioning as the Deputy Mayor at the Council.

The SLMC was earlier planning to oust Meerasahib by defeating him at the forthcoming Budget to be presented at the Council as he was first biding time and then refusing to step down as requested by the SLMC Leader who then issued him an October 31 ultimatum.

Colombo Inflation at drastic high at 13.4%

TKS Research says high urban inflation is presently curtailing GDP growth

Relationship b/w Inflation & GDP Growth explained

© colourfultimes.com

Local equity and securities research firm, TKS Securities last week said that its primary research on consumer prices had revealed that the urban middle income consumer is weathering inflation of over 13% in comparison to the national average of 7.8% based on the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI). According to an Inflation report published by the firm, they note that Colombo district which accounts for 22% of total country’s GDP having around 25% of its population as middle income earners are faced with a relatively higher inflation than the number indicated by CCPI and hence affecting the potential GDP growth of the economy.

Sri Lanka Tea exporters want Tea Hub in Hambantota

Rohan Fernando

In the wake of the ‘Tea Hub’ concept not gaining much acceptance by the government authorities, the Tea Exporters Association (TEA) is to present a fresh set of proposals soon, this time for the formation of a Strategic Business Unit (SBU) in Hambantota, a top official told The Nation Gain last week.

According to the TEA Chairman Rohan Fernando, the new proposals would entail the setting up of a total value addition center for tea in the Southern region which would provide the required space for exporters to compete with any other top brands in the market by not having too many restrictions placed on the SBU.

Colombo lacks A Grade quality office space

Sri Lanka’s commercial capital, Colombo city is currently facing a dearth in supply of globally competitive corporate space as the demand for quality commercial space is rising, creating a huge opportunity for both existing and future office space developers, a recent study on the property sector by a local brokerage firm has pointed out. According to report titled ‘Colombo, a Modern City in the Making’ published by TKS Research currently the only sizeable designated office space in Colombo is just over two million square feet with occupancy at A grade office space averaging at 98% or almost fully occupied.

“With the receipt of peace dividend in 2009, a huge demand was created for office space in Colombo which, in turn, doubled the rental yield. Although four years have passed since then, still no major office space is added to the capacity,” the Volume II of the report released last week stated.It noted that with the development in the country into a services hub and increasing presence of international/multinational companies, a rapid augmentation of the corporate sector standards is evident in Sri Lanka and therefore, the country is currently in much need of globally competitive corporate space.