Business
Minister orders faster research solutions for coconut growers at Lunuwila institute
Samantha Vidyarathna told Coconut Research Institute officials to target current field problems and deliver practical answers without delay.
Business
2060 stories Business
ASPI closes at 19,970, within 30 points of 20,000, on a second day of gains
The All Share Price Index rose 277.55 points to 19,970.22 on Wednesday. Foreign investors were net sellers of Rs 894 million.
Business
CSE chairman targets 150,000 active investors with a branch in every district
Dimuthu Abeyesekera said active participants have fallen to about 60,000 from a peak of 78,000, and that 0.2% of those who could invest do.
Business
Customs opens a gold trail in the phantom-imports case, probing more than 80kg brought in on Jiffry Mohamed's money
A Pettah jewellery shop owner is under investigation over gold allegedly imported using funds from the dollar-transfer case. Police teams are searching for it.
Business
Analysis says a 34.6% jump in consumption taxes explains the gap between Sri Lanka's growth figures and daily life
Published by the Daily Mirror, the piece argues indirect taxes equal 12 per cent of GDP and calls the result a shock rather than a transformation.
Business
Japan grants Rs 4.5 billion for a stormwater pump station in the Kelani River basin
Ambassador Akio Isomata and Treasury Secretary Harshana Suriyapperuma exchanged notes in Colombo on a JPY 2.179 billion flood-mitigation grant.
Business
President tells officials to speed up Katunayake airport expansion at 2027 budget review
Anura Kumara Dissanayake asked for faster work on passenger capacity and facilities at BIA, and for other domestic airports to be developed alongside it.
Business
President reviews tourism projects and 2027 budget proposals, in the second of two tourism meetings in one day
Marine, cruise and spiritual tourism, 'Southern Mist' and Dutch-era heritage sites in the north and east were taken up at the Presidential Office.
Business
Government says only a few of its 527 state enterprises are real businesses, and plans to divest some
Deputy Finance Minister Anil Jayantha Fernando says a new SOE Act would let commercial entities become limited liability companies under one umbrella.
Business
SriLankan aborts London take-off after bird strike damages engine; CAA opens investigation
UL503 was stopped on the runway at Katunayake after a bird was ingested into an engine. A replacement aircraft left at 4.30 p.m.
Business
Ceylon Chamber signs cooperation agreement with Indonesia's KADIN
Ceylon Chamber signed MOU with Indonesia's KADIN during Jakarta trade mission, with talks held at Indonesia's trade ministry and industry bodies.
Business
Cabinet takes a US$100 million ADB loan for macro-recovery, drawn from the same $620 million package
Half policy-based financing, half investment financing. It is the latest tranche of an ADB facility tied to Sri Lanka's IMF programme.
Business
Cabinet awards a Rs 756.9mn Central Province road contract to Asset Engineering
The B329 Norwood–Bogawanthalawa–Campion stretch goes to the same contractor that won a Rs 791mn hill-country road contract six weeks ago.
Business
Engineers and scientists to be allowed to act as patent agents, as Cabinet sends IP rules to Parliament
Cabinet sent amended intellectual property agent rules to Parliament, allowing engineers and scientists as patent agents.
Business
Cabinet approves long-term leases on 15 state plantation properties
Nalinda Jayatissa said 470 investors expressed interest and 44 proposals were received, but declined to say how long the leases run or what they will raise.
Business
Central Bank Governor says slow reserve building is deliberate — and puts the year-end target at $8 billion
Nandalal Weerasinghe says buying dollars faster would move the rupee. His figure is a billion below what a deputy minister told Parliament in August.
Business
Colombo Port's next expansion is meant to come from software, not cranes
SLPA chairman says cutting container dwell time from 11 days to five could lift terminal capacity 118 per cent — without building anything.
Business
CSE opens higher after six straight losses to a year-to-date low; rupee flat at 332.25/35
The ASPI closed at a 2026 low of 19,640.56 on Monday, then opened up 0.34% on Tuesday. Turnover is the test of whether the bounce holds.
Business
President told 40% of Sri Lanka's fish catch is lost to post-harvest waste
Sri Lanka loses about 40% of its 400,000-tonne annual fish production after landing, the President's Media Division said at 2027 budget talks.
Business
Government will decide on extending the IMF agreement next year, Cabinet spokesman says
Nalinda Jayatissa says it is too early to commit either way, and that the Middle East conflict and domestic conditions will shape the call.
Business
Japan pledges over Rs 600 million to monitor pollution in the Kelani, Colombo's main drinking water source
A five-year JICA project will build a basin-wide water quality network. The first testing equipment was handed over as the river sat under a flood warning.
Business
LAUGFS Gas in talks over its Hambantota LPG terminal, including possible sale
LAUGFS Gas in talks on selling its 30,000-tonne Hambantota LPG terminal, with shares jumping 10 percent.
Business
Government confirms an ongoing gas shortage and blames Laugfs, six days after telling Parliament there was none
Litro is now releasing 90,000-100,000 cylinders a day. The stated normal baseline has fallen from 80,000 to 74,000 in six days.
Business
President presses for faster work on Katunayake passenger capacity at 2027 budget review
President pushes for faster Katunayake airport capacity projects in 2027 budget review of Ports and Civil Aviation.