Category: Daily Financial Times

The secondary Bond market opened last week on a positive footing, with yields initially easing on the back of residual buying interest carried over from the latter part of the previous week. However, this momentum tapered off, as participation thinned and market activity turned cautious amid back-to-back primary Treasury Bill and Bond auctions, leading to limited follow-through in secondary trades and yields edging back up.

Mid-week conditions remained subdued, with market participants largely adopting a wait-and-see stance amidst the successive primary market auctions. Secondary market activity was limited, as focus shifted toward assessing post-auction signals. In this context, secondary Bond yields were seen adjusting upwards, particularly following the weekly Treasury Bill auction, which recorded across-the-board increases in weighted average rates for the second consecutive week, prompting a measured re-pricing across the curve.

However, sentiment improved toward the latter part of the week, as renewed buying interest emerged, triggering a recovery. This movement was most evident in the belly of the yield curve, particularly across the 2028-2033 maturities, where yields declined on the back of firmer demand. Market activity and transaction volumes improved during this phase.

The recovery extended into the final session of the week, supported by sustained buying interest, with yields closing lower on the day. Overall, despite the muted conditions observed earlier in the week, secondary market activity ended on a firmer note, with improved sentiment and healthier transaction volumes toward the close. In conclusion secondary Bond market two-way quotes closed the week broadly steady week on week.

In terms of the secondary Bond market trade summary: last week, the 01.05.27 maturity traded at 8.92%-8.89%, while the 15.09.27 maturity traded at 8.95%.

Moving into the 2028 tenors, the 15.02.28 maturity traded at 9.05%. The 01.05.28 maturity initially traded up to 9.20% before trading down the range of 9.20%-9.15% towards the latter part of the week. The 01.07.28 maturity traded up to 9.25% before easing to trade down to an intraweek low of 9.14% at the close of the week. The 01.09.28 maturity traded at 9.18%, while the 15.10.28 and 15.12.28 maturities were seen trading at 9.20% and 9.22%-9.20% respectively.

Further along the curve, the 15.09.29 maturity traded up to 9.80% before easing back to 9.75%, while the 15.10.29 maturity saw its yield ease from a high of 9.75% to a low of 9.70%. The 15.12.29 maturity traded up to 9.87% before trading down the range of 9.86%-9.75% at the tail end of the week during the recovery rally.

The 01.07.30 maturity traded up to 9.91% post-auction T-Bill auction before trading down the range of 9.87%-9.80% as the market recovered and retraced downwards. The 15.03.31 maturity traded at 10.00%. The 01.10.32 maturity traded up to 10.40% before easing to trade back down to 10.35%. The 01.06.33 and 01.11.33 maturities traded at the rate of 10.50% at the close of the week.

Meanwhile, the Bond auctions held on Tuesday (30 December 2025) raised Rs. 43.18 billion, representing 78.51% of the Rs. 55 billion on offer, across two available maturities. The 01.07.2037 maturity was fully subscribed at a weighted average yield of 10.90%, raising the entire maturity-wise offered amount of Rs. 25 billion at the first phase in competitive bidding. The 01.07.2030 maturity was issued at 9.80%. However, the maturity was undersubscribed at the 1st and 2nd phases.

This was followed by the weekly Treasury Bill auction held last Wednesday, where weighted average yields recorded an upwards movement across the board for a second consecutive week. Accordingly, the weighted average yield on the 91-day bill rose by 19 basis points to 7.74%, the 182-day by 32 basis points to 8.27%, and the 364-day by 26 basis points to 8.45% respectively. Only an amount of Rs. 57.39 billion was raised in total, out of a total offered amount of Rs. 120 billion, translating to a 47.83% subscription ratio.

Meanwhile, the foreign holdings of rupee-denominated Government Securities recorded a net foreign inflow, amounting to Rs. 938 million. Consequently, total holdings increased to Rs. 141.36 billion during the week ending 1 January.

The daily secondary market Treasury Bond/Bill transacted volumes for the first four days of the week averaged at Rs. 15.19 billion.

In the money market, the total outstanding liquidity surplus in the inter-bank money market increased steadily to Rs. 134.48 billion as at the week ending 2 January 2026, from Rs. 111.66 billion recorded the previous week. The weighted average interest rates on call money and repo were recorded within the ranges of 8.03%-8.04% and 8.05%-8.06% respectively while the Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s (CBSL) holding of Government Securities was registered at Rs. 2,508.92 billion as at 2 January, unchanged against the previous week’s closing level.

Forex market

In the forex market, the USD/LKR rate on spot contracts was seen closing the week depreciating to Rs. 309.75/309.85 as against the previous week’s closing level of Rs. 309.65/309.75. This was subsequent to trading at a high of Rs. 309.40 and a low of Rs. 310.25.

The daily USD/LKR average traded volume for the first four trading days of the week stood at $ 59.60 million.

India has agreed to play two additional Twenty20 International matches during the Sri Lanka tour in August as part of an effort to support the welfare efforts of the people affected by the Ditwah cyclone.

Sri Lankan Cricket President Shammi Silva addressing a press conference at SLC headquarters yesterday said that the Indian team had agreed to play two T20 International matches in the last week of December, on 27 and 29, to support the victims of the ‘Ditwah’ cyclone but due to the commercial value being low at that time, it was decided to play it after the two Tests in August.

Silva said that the two T20Is were not part of the Future Tour Program (FTP) and thereby had to be played during a period where the matches would be of high value.

Sri Lanka are due to recommence their World Test Championship program for 2026 with a two-Test series in the Caribbean in June-July. It will be followed by India’s tour to Sri Lanka for two Tests in August which are also part of the WTC, and will include the two T20I matches.

Silva expressed his gratitude to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for agreeing to play the two additional T20I matches.

SLC had earlier decided to donate the profits accrued from the three-match T20I series against Pakistan in Dambulla starting next week to the ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ program.

Sri Lanka’s rupee weakened against the US dollar in 2025, posting an annual depreciation of 5.6%, reversing the strong gains recorded over the previous two years.

The decline follows a sharp recovery phase in 2023 and 2024, when the currency appreciated by 12.1% and 10.7%, respectively, supported by tight monetary policy, import controls, improved external balances, and inflows linked to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-supported reform program.

The 2025 depreciation contrasts with the stabilisation trend seen after the currency crisis of 2022, when the rupee collapsed by 44.8% amid severe balance-of-payments stress, depleted reserves, and a suspension of external debt servicing.

Prior to the crisis, the rupee had shown a persistent weakening bias. It depreciated by 7% in 2021 and 2.6% in 2020, while recording a marginal appreciation of 0.6% in 2019.

Market analysts note that the 2025 movement reflects a more flexible exchange-rate environment, gradual normalisation of import demand, external debt-related outflows, and reduced intervention, rather than disorderly pressure.

They add that currency performance in the coming period will hinge on reserve accumulation, export growth, remittance inflows, capital flows, and progress on debt restructuring, alongside global dollar conditions.

The rupee began to moderately depreciate in early 2025. The recent post-Ditwah IMF staff paper said the exchange rate depreciated in early December but remains range-bound.

The IMF said the current account deficit could widen by around $ 700 million, or 0.7% of GDP, over the next 12 months.

IMF staff noted that Sri Lanka entered the disaster period with stronger macroeconomic fundamentals, after reforms had supported a recovery and restored stability. Gross official reserves had risen to about three months of imports, and inflation had remained low before the cyclone.

On this basis, staff project growth returning to potential at around 3.1% in 2027, with inflation easing back towards target and the current account deficit narrowing as tourism and agricultural exports recover and emergency-related imports subside.

Humanly, we can only be awake about 16-17 hours a day. This has not changed much with time. What has changed is the explosion of choices in how we spend those hours-food, entertainment, socialising, travelling, and countless sub-choices within each.

This abundance carries profound implications for the way we live today:

We are over-consuming almost everything, leaving behind a trail of idle or underutilised assets-from cars to wardrobes, appliances to apps.

To sustain this consumption, we must work harder and more competitively, which in turn increases stress. The alarming rise in lifestyle-induced non-communicable diseases is evidence of this vicious cycle.

Even if we wish to slow down, the system resists. Commercial organisations must show year-on-year growth in revenue and profit. Governments, too, chase economic expansion, borrowing more to prop up economies. Industries-from healthcare to arms and ammunition to media-thrive on pushing us to consume, fight, or sensationalise more.

By virtue of being part of this economic and commercial system, we are locked into perpetual growth. Yet it is unlikely that our environment can sustain this trajectory. Mother Nature continues to send grave signals, though some global leaders are yet to warm up to it!

The questions remains: How long can we continue this way, and what will compel us to change?

Personally, I long for a reversal toward a simpler, more sustainable way of life. The system may work against it, but that cannot be an excuse for the individual who wishes to make a change. It is about striking balance-ensuring that ambition stops short of greed, self-esteem stops short of destructive ego, and the quest for comfort stops short of materialism.

May the New Year bring enlightenment, and the courage to choose sustainability over excess.

The Government will press ahead with its planned education reforms, Prime Minister and Education Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya said yesterday, outlining a phased rollout of the new curriculum with the start of the 2026 academic year.

Speaking at a media briefing at the Department of Government Information, she said the revised curriculum for Grade 6 will be introduced on 21 January, while new learning modules for Grade 1 students will commence on 29 January, following the reopening of schools today.

The Prime Minister said parallel programs have been organised to help students transition to the new system, alongside awareness initiatives for parents to explain the changes and expectations under the revised framework.

She added that guidance has been provided on key areas such as subject selection and adapting to new teaching and learning methods, stressing that the reforms have been designed with a holistic view of the schooling process.

On teacher preparedness, Dr. Amarasuriya said 7,181 training-of-trainers programs have been conducted, covering approximately 132,580 teachers. Training has now been completed for about 93% of teachers who will deliver the new curriculum.

The Prime Minister also said steps have been taken to ensure the required infrastructure is in place to support the implementation of the reforms across schools.

Speaking at the same briefing, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said the internal committee appointed to examine the disputed Grade 6 textbook module has completed and handed over its report.

Herath added that the Government would move ahead with necessary action in line with the committee’s recommendations in the period ahead.

Prime Minister Dr. Amarasuriya said it was easy to uncover who was behind the fiasco and that the CID was investigating the matter, but it was harder to uncover the reasons behind it. ‘We need to await the outcome of the CID investigation, but we have suspicions of a conspiracy behind this to bring the Government into disrepute and derail the education reforms we are proposing,’ the Prime Minister said.

The National Development Bank PLC (NDB Bank) and IMPACT Innovations Information Technology LLC (IMPACT IT) have announced a strategic collaboration to integrate NDB Bank’s secure Host-to-Host (H2H) Solution with ENIMBUS360, the flagship ERP platform developed by IMPACT IT.

This partnership marks a significant milestone in Sri Lanka’s enterprise digitisation, offering corporate and SME clients a seamless, real-time connection between their banking operations and core business management systems.

The integration enables ENIMBUS360 to directly transmit approved financial transactions to NDB, providing customers with a smooth and highly efficient banking experience. Once a supplier payment or payroll run is approved within the ERP, the relevant instructions are automatically and securely sent to NDB for processing. This removes the need for manual uploads or repeated data entry, reduces the risk of errors, and ensures that payments are executed promptly. As a result, businesses can manage their operational and banking activities through a single system, improving accuracy, transparency, and overall financial efficiency.

NDB Bank Vice President – Chief Information Officer Indika Gunawardena said: ‘Our vision is to simplify and fully automate the corporate banking experience. By partnering with IMPACT IT, we are embedding NDB’s secure digital capabilities directly into our clients’ daily workflows. This empowers businesses with unparalleled convenience and speed, allowing them to focus on growth while we manage the financial backbone.’

Assistant Vice President – Product Lifecycle Management Damitha Silva said: ‘This collaboration is a leap forward for Sri Lanka’s SME market. It enables smaller and mid-sized businesses to access enterprise-grade automation, seamlessly linking their accounting and payment processes directly to NDB’s trusted banking ecosystem.’

The collaboration enables businesses to initiate payments, reconcile transactions, and manage cash flows directly within ENIMBUS360, eliminating the need to switch between banking portals and internal systems. This unified experience significantly enhances operational efficiency by automating financial workflows, improving visibility across all transactions, and enabling finance teams to make faster and more accurate decisions.

IMPACT IT Founding Director and CEO Shameera Prajapriya said: ‘As ENIMBUS360 expands its capabilities, we are partnering with banking institutions to deliver secure, seamless and future-ready digital solutions. By integrating NDB’s Host-to-Host technology into our platform, we’re redefining how Sri Lankan businesses interact with their banks-connecting sales, inventory, HR and finance into one unified ecosystem. The result is a competitive, value-driven environment that strengthens customer loyalty, accelerates digital transformation and enables true end-to-end business automation’

On 29 December 2025, Sri Lanka crossed a symbolic threshold. For the first time in its history, the country recorded its highest ever tourist arrivals in a calendar year, with the milestone visitor being an Indian traveller arriving on a Sri Lankan airlines flight. It was genuinely good news, a clear sign that tourism has become one of the pillars of our economic recovery and that we have surpassed the previous record year of 2018.

The rebound is all the more remarkable given what the industry has weathered in recent years from the Easter attacks and pandemic shutdowns to the economic crisis and even the disruptions caused by Cyclone Ditwah. The sector has shown resilience. But resilience alone is not a strategy.

Why record numbers are not enough

Arrivals alone do not build a tourism economy. Value does; how long people stay, how much they spend, how widely that spending spreads, and whether they come back.

That milestone therefore prompted a more forward-looking reflection. Now that we have reached this point, how should we take tourism to the next level? How do we build on momentum while shifting the conversation firmly towards quality over quantity?

Marketing 101

One of the first lessons ever learnt in marketing was simple; stop guessing and start listening. If you want to improve your product or service, listen carefully to what your customers are actually saying about it. Long immigration queues and confusing processes undo weeks of marketing in a single afternoon. In tourism, when volume rises but yield stagnates, the solution is not louder advertising but sharper listening.

Listening before prescribing

This article is the first part of a two-part reflection on where Sri Lankan tourism goes from here. In Part 1, I look at what our visitors are telling us. In Part 2, I will turn to what the industry itself has been saying for years – the structural bottlenecks, governance gaps and policy failures that cause fixes to stall even when the answers are already known.

Tourism today sits alongside worker remittances as one of Sri Lanka’s largest sources of foreign exchange. It creates jobs at scale, supports rural communities and injects hard currency directly into households. Yet the data already hints at a warning sign. In 2018 the average tourist stayed about 10.8 nights, by 2023-24 this had fallen to roughly 8.4-8.6 nights according to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) and Central Bank. More visitors, shorter stays, a textbook case of diminishing returns.

Over several months I deliberately trawled through TripAdvisor threads, Reddit forums, Instagram reels and Facebook travel groups, and then cross-checked what I was seeing by walking the streets of Ella, Mirissa, Weligama and Arugam Bay and talking to travellers face to face.

The complaints below are ranked by frequency, emotional intensity and commercial impact.

The top 10 complaints and how they quietly drain value are below.

Before listing them, it is worth noting that not everything is broken. The development of products like the Pekoe Trail shows what is possible when experiential product design is taken seriously. These bright spots only underline how much value is being lost elsewhere.

1. Harassment, touting and overcharging

This is not about isolated incidents. It is about behaviour that forces visitors into defensive mode. Several solo female travellers told me that what unsettled them most was persistent unwanted attention. A recent viral video of a tuk-tuk driver exposing himself to a woman travelling alone spread globally within hours. Once guests feel unsafe, they retreat indoors, cancel casual dining and avoid exploration. That is lost revenue for entire communities.

2. Visa extension frustration

Despite assurances that visa extensions can be handled online, many visitors still lose a full day travelling to Battaramulla and paying significant fees simply to stay longer. Long-stay travellers are our highest-yield segment. When the extension process feels punitive, they quietly shorten trips or choose another country next time.

3. Overcrowding at signature attractions

Waterfalls where nobody can hear the water. Viewpoints reduced to selfie queues. When destinations feel congested, travellers compress itineraries. The three-night stay becomes a rushed afternoon. SLTDA visitor surveys repeatedly flag overcrowding as a top dissatisfaction factor, closely correlated with shortened stays.

4. Yala safari congestion

A leopard sighting should feel rare. Instead it often feels like a traffic jam. Guests leave not complaining about wildlife, but about chaos and that is the story they take home.

5. Airport arrival chaos

First and last impressions matter. Long immigration queues and confusing processes undo weeks of marketing in a single afternoon. Even if Terminal 2 construction begins in mid-2026, most official timelines point to late-2028 before meaningful relief arrives. Until then, operational reform is critical.

6. Beach litter and hygiene

Visitors do not photograph dirty beaches. They simply do not return. A neglected beach signals that a destination has stopped caring about itself.

7. Unregulated scooter and tuk-tuk hire

While local operators debate blocking platforms like PickMe, tourists consistently say they prefer regulated systems with fixed pricing and traceable drivers. Freedom without structure creates anxiety and anxiety kills spending.

8. Lack of toilets and public facilities

Rarely written but constantly mentioned. When travellers plan entire days around bathroom access, the destination has failed at a basic level.

9. Poor signage and interpretation

Too many sites remain unexplained. Guests walk through history without understanding it or are fed inaccurate stories by unofficial guides. The Pekoe Trail proves that interpretation converts sightseeing into storytelling.

10. Hidden fees and fake charges

‘I loved Sri Lanka,’ one traveller told me, ‘but I never knew what anything was really supposed to cost.’ Once that distrust sets in, visitors simply stop buying.

And then there is the long tail

Beyond these lie animal-welfare concerns, weak Wi-Fi, fragmented transport information and inconsistent service standards. Indian family travellers frequently flag beach congestion and harassment; Chinese group travellers are far more vocal about poor connectivity and signage. Each irritation alone may seem manageable. Together, they define how a destination feels.

Why this is really about value, not volume

Every issue above quietly erodes yield. A guest who feels harassed eats inside. A guest stuck in queues shortens stays. A guest who distrusts pricing, books nothing impulsively.

If friction trims even one day off the average stay, Sri Lanka loses an entire day of meals, transport, guides, entry fees and tips per visitor. In the age of social media, one angry reel from a Yala traffic jam can now reach millions within days and live online forever. We are counting tourists, not measuring what they leave behind.

In Part 2, I will unpack why Sri Lanka keeps diagnosing the same problems year after year, yet remains stuck in pilot projects and committee reports.

(The author is a business leader specialising in hospitality, tourism, and investment. As Chairman and CEO of private companies and a board member of three publicly listed companies, he is actively engaged in hotel development and asset management in Sri Lanka. He can be contacted at [email protected])

Foreign investor participation in Sri Lanka’s Government securities rebounded strongly in 2025, reversing a sharp contraction a year earlier, while the overall stock of domestic debt continued to rise, driven by increased Treasury Bond issuance.

The latest data released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) indicate that the Government’s financing strategy in 2025 continued to tilt toward longer-tenor instruments, while improving market conditions supported a renewed inflow of foreign investment into rupee-denominated Government securities.

Foreign holdings in Government securities rose 106.36% in 2025 to Rs. 141.36 billion as at 1 January 2026, up from Rs. 68.5 billion at the start of the year, reflecting an increase of Rs. 72.86 billion. This marked a decisive turnaround from 2024, when foreign holdings declined by Rs. 48.9 billion, or 41.65%, from Rs. 117.4 billion at end-2023.

Total outstanding Government securities increased 2.5% in 2025 to Rs. 18.75 trillion as at 1 January 2026, rising by Rs. 458 billion from Rs. 18.29 trillion at the beginning of the year.

The pace of growth moderated significantly compared to 2024, when the stock expanded by Rs. 2.17 trillion, or 13.47%, from Rs. 16.12 trillion at end-2023.

Within the composition of Government debt, Treasury Bills outstanding declined sharply in 2025, falling 22.92% to Rs. 3.14 trillion, a reduction of Rs. 933 billion from Rs. 4.07 trillion at the start of the year. In contrast, Treasury Bonds outstanding increased 9.77% to Rs. 15.61 trillion, up by Rs. 1.39 trillion over the same period.

In 2024, Treasury Bills were largely unchanged, edging down marginally by Rs. 7 billion or 0.17%, while Treasury Bonds expanded strongly by Rs. 2.18 trillion, or 18.09%, from Rs. 12.04 trillion at end-2023.

Singer Finance (Lanka) PLC has announced the appointment of Thushan Amarasuriya as the Managing Director with effect from 1 January 2026.

The appointment was approved by the Board on 25 November 2025 and by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka on 24 December 2025.

Amarasuriya is a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA-UK), an Affiliate Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA-UK), a Certified Global Management Accountant (CGMA), and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. He holds an MBA from the University of Leicester in the UK and an LLB (Hons), Second Class Upper Division, from BNU-UK. He is also an Honorary Fellow Member of the Sri Lanka Institute of Credit Management.

He was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the company on 1 July 2018 and brings over 21 years of managerial experience across FMCG retailing, consumer goods retailing, and the financing and leasing sector.

Prior to joining Singer Finance, he held senior roles at Singer India Retail, Singer (Sri Lanka) PLC, and Cargills Food City. He also serves in honorary capacities as a Trustee and Treasurer of the Saukyadana Movement and as Senior Vice President of the Mercantile Cricket Association.

Colombo successfully concluded yet another insightful edition of its flagship event ‘The Way Forward ‘series on 27 November 2025 at the Cinnamon Grand Colombo.

The forum featured the keynote speaker, Maliban Group of Companies CEO Ravi Jayawardena, which brought together a distinguished audience comprising senior corporate leaders, professionals, and emerging executives from across the corporate sector.

The session focused on a timely and a compelling theme, ‘Strategic Maneuvering in Tough Times: Live or Lead.’ Drawing from his extensive leadership experience, Jayawardena shared practical insights and real-world perspectives on navigating organisations through periods of uncertainty and disruption. His address strongly emphasised the importance of knowledge enhancement, adaptive thinking, and professional development as essential enablers of sustainable leadership that would drive through the tough times

A key highlight of the discussion was the critical role of maintaining a positive mindset in decision-making, particularly under intense external pressures. Jayawardena underscored that resilience and optimism are not merely personal traits, but strategic necessities for leaders steering organisations through challenging environments.

He further elaborated on the importance of strategic resource allocation, advocating equal emphasis on continuous training and knowledge sharing alongside investments in research and development. According to Jayawardena, organisations that foster a corporate culture open to new ideas-and one that thoughtfully accommodates learning from errors-are better equipped to respond to external forces with agility and confidence. Such a culture, he noted, instills a strong sense of ownership among teams involved in strategic initiatives. However, he cautioned that empowering teams and allowing room for error must be balanced with prudent judgment, as even a single misstep can have far-reaching consequences.

Addressing the question of the nature of leadership during high-risk periods, Jayawardena emphasised that senior management must take the lead in times of uncertainty. He highlighted the strategic value of retaining experienced professionals, dispelling the common misconception that senior staff lack the dynamism of younger employees. Instead, he reinforced that experience, perspective, and sound judgment are indispensable assets during turbulent times.

Jayawardena also spoke on the need for organisations to continuously redefine their performance parameters in response to evolving micro and macro environmental conditions. He stressed that key performance indicators (KPIs), as well as criteria for measuring success and failure, must be periodically reviewed and recalibrated to reflect new realities. Known for his eloquence, he reinforced his message through compelling real-life examples, including references to world-class athletes who overcame adversity through discipline, consistency, and determination.

The session concluded on a high note, reaffirming The Way Forward series as a valuable platform for thought leadership, dialogue, and learning-empowering professionals to not only survive challenging times, but also to lead decisively all the time.

The session was compered by Gayathri Wickramasinghe whilst Ravi Jayawardena was accorded with a token of appreciation by the TMC – Colombo Chairperson Duneeshya Bogoda.