Sri Lanka can be made the Asian destination of tourists - President

Sri Lanka can be made the Asian destination of tourists, says President Gotabaya Rajapaksa while pointing out that obstacles should be removed and plans should be made to attract tourists through global promotional programmes.

More than 260,000 tourists have arrived in the country in the first quarter of the year. That’s higher than last year’s ove...

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Rs. 68 million worth loans obtained from SMIB using forged documents in 2017 - COPE

The Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) has observed that in 2017, some 47 people were involved in preparing fake documents and submitting fake information and have obtained loans to the tune of Rs. 68 million from the State Mortgage and Investment Bank (SMIB).

This was taken into discussion during the meeting of the Committee on Public...

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Extended power cuts to continue tomorrow

The request made by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) for scheduled power cuts tomorrow (March 25) has been approved by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL).

Accordingly the areas under the Groups P, Q, R, S, T, U, V and W will experience power cuts of 4 hours and 30 minutes between 8.30am and 5.30pm and 1 hour and 50 minutes...

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Trade Ministry seeks permission to import brown sugar

The Ministry of Trade has requested permission from the Ministry of Finance to import brown sugar with immediate effect. 

This request has been made in view of the upcoming festive season. ...

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Value Added Tax Amendment Bill passed in Parliament

The Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill, to increase the tax on financial services from 15% to 18%, was passed in Parliament today (March 24).

The Second Reading of the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill was taken up for debate from 11.00 am to 4.30 pm today.

The Bill to amend the Value Added Tax Act No. 14 of 2002 was recently passed in the Committee on...

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Sri Lanka to seek World Bank support alongside IMF loan programme - report

Sri Lanka will seek World Bank assistance to stave off a severe economic crisis in addition to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) rescue plan to be discussed next month, two sources said.

A 70% drop in foreign exchange reserves since January 2020 has left Sri Lanka struggling to pay for essential imports, including food and fuel, leading to...

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