US Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, Charles H. Rivkin, will visit Sri Lanka and Burma between 8 and 12 August, the US Embassy said in a statement.
Assistant Secretary Rivkin will lead the State Department’s ‘American Innovation Roadshow’ to Rangoon and Naypyidaw from 8-10August in Burma. This trip is part of an ongoing series of State Department Innovation Roadshows across Asia that were launched by US State Secretary John Kerry and are part of US-ASEAN Connect.
Mirroring lacklustre international commodity prices, Sri Lanka’s trade deficit grew 15.7% to $ 814 million from $ 703 million in May 2015 as exports dropped by 12% reflecting contraction in all major sectors as imports edged up marginally by 0.03% to $1.59 billion, the Central Bank said yesterday in its latest external performance report, which also rounded up the deficit of the first five months to $ 3.4 billion, from $ 3.38 billion the previous year.
President Maithripala Sirisena and Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake share a lighter moment on stage during
the inauguration of the Sri Lanka Economic Summit yesterday.
President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday made an impassioned plea of support for small and medium enterprises as their development would directly improve the livelihoods of middle class Sri Lankans and called on his Finance Minister to create avenues to support private sector investment including providing tax concessions where possible.
Sri Lanka and the Principality of Monaco have established formal diplomatic relations, the Foreign Affairs Ministry announced.
Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Dr. Rohan Perera and his Monaco counterpart Isabelle Picco signed the Joint Communiqué on 26 July establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries, at the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in New York.
Source: http://www.ft.lk/article/558937/Sri-Lanka- establishes-formal- diplomatic-relations- with-Monaco
Reuters: A federal appeals court on Thursday said the US government cannot force Microsoft Corp and other companies to turn over customer emails stored on servers outside the United States.
The 3-0 decision by the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan is a defeat for the US Department of Justice and a victory for privacy advocates and for technology companies offering cloud computing and other services around the world. Circuit Judge Susan Carney said communications held by US service providers on servers outside the United States are beyond the reach of domestic search warrants issued under the Stored Communications Act, a 1986 federal law.
Any severe and prolonged market volatility resulting from Brexit could affect heighten balance of payment pressures for Sri Lanka (B1 negative), the global rating agency, Moody’s said in a report released yesterday.
The Moody’s Investors Service says that the United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union will not have a significant credit impact on Asia Pacific sovereigns, but dependence on external finance poses a vulnerability for some countries.
Moody’s conclusions are contained in its just-released report on the impact of Brexit on the Asia Pacific region, entitled “Sovereigns -Brexit and Asia Pacific: Limited Direct Credit Impact; Some Sovereigns Exposed to Market Volatility.”
By Chamodi Gunawardana
The National Movement for Consumer Rights’ Protection (NMCRP) yesterday urged the Health Ministry and the Sri Lanka Standards Institute (SLSI) to continuously monitor standards of bottled water
It demanded that SLSI should have regular checking for its approved products to inspect whether they are maintaining standards.
Reuters - Sri Lankan rupee one-week forwards ended slightly weaker on Friday as importer dollar demand surpassed late inward remittances ahead of Ramadan while nervous investors awaited the appointment of a new Central Bank governor, dealers said.
One-week dollar/rupee forwards, which have been acting as a proxy for the spot rupee, ended at 146.40/60 per dollar, weaker than Thursday’s close of 146.00/30.
