The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka as a measure to strengthen the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Sector under the ‘Masterplan for Consolidation’ decided to direct Kanrich Finance Limited (KFL) to settle its public liabilities in full within the period from 26.12.2022 to 28.02.2023 in terms of Section 25(1)(m) of the Finance Business Act, No. 42 of 2011 (FBA), due to continuous capital deficiencies faced by KFL.
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Kanrich Finance Limited – Settlement of Public Liabilities
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Provincial Gross Domestic Product (PGDP) - 2021
Western province, which is the epicentre to majority of the key activities of the Sri Lankan economy, continued to be the largest contributor to the national output representing 42.6 per cent of the nominal GDP (base year 2015) in 2021, with a marginal increase in its share on year-on-year basis. North Western (11.1 per cent) and Central (10.1 per cent) provinces recorded second and third highest shares, respectively.
Contribution to nominal GDP from Western, Sabaragamuwa and North Western provinces increased in 2021 compared to 2020, while that of Southern, Northern and Uva provinces remained unchanged. However, contributions from Central, Eastern and North Central provinces decreased marginally in 2021.
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Swarnamahal Financial Services PLC - Cancellation of the Licence
The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka decided to cancel the Finance Business Licence issued to Swarnamahal Financial Services PLC (SFSP), in terms of Section 37(3) of the Finance Business Act, No. 42 of 2011 (FBA) with effect from 28th December 2022. Accordingly, SFSP is not permitted to engage in Finance Business under the FBA with effect from 28th December 2022.
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NCPI based headline inflation decreased for the second consecutive month in November 2022
Headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI, 2013=100) decreased to 65.0% in November 2022 from 70.6% in October 2022. Similarly, the Food inflation (Y-o-Y) decreased to 69.8% in November 2022 from 80.9% in October 2022, while Non-Food inflation (Y-o-Y) decreased to 60.4% in November 2022 from 61.3% in October 2022.
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Sri Lanka Purchasing Managers’ Index - November 2022
Purchasing Managers' Indices for both Manufacturing and Services activities remained contracted in November 2022.
Indicating a setback in manufacturing activities on a month-on-month basis, Manufacturing PMI recorded an index value of 42.1 in November 2022. This setback was contributed by subdued performance observed in all the sub-indices, except for Suppliers’ Delivery Time.
Services PMI recorded an index value of 49.0 in November 2022, up from 47.9 in October, yet remained slightly below the neutral threshold level. The rate of decline in services activities was softened with the improvements observed in New Businesses, Business Activities and Expectations for Activity. However, Employment and Backlogs of Work declined during the month.
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Public awareness in relation to defrauding individuals through scam calls, text messages, email messages and social media networks
In recent times, a rapid increase in the number of complaints filed by aggrieved parties has been observed in relation to defrauding money from individuals by giving false information through fraudulent phone calls, text messages, e-mail messages and social media networks, promising to direct them to foreign employment or asking them to pay customs duties to receive parcels containing various valuable goods.
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Imposition/ Collection of Administrative Penalties by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to Enforce Compliance on Financial Institutions from 01 July 2022 to 16 November 2022
By virtue of the powers vested under Section 19 (1) read together with section 19 (2) of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act, No. 6 of 2006 (FTRA), financial penalties are imposed on Institutions for non-compliance with the provisions of the FTRA. The penalty may be prescribed taking into consideration the nature and gravity of relevant non-compliance of the Financial Institution.
Accordingly, as Sri Lanka’s regulator for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), the FIU collected penalties as indicated below, amounting to Rs. 10.75 million in total from 01 July 2022 to 16 November 2022 to enforce compliance on Financial Institutions. The money collected as penalties were credited to the Consolidated Fund.
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Revocation of the money changing permit issued to Prasanna Money Exchange (Pvt) Ltd
After conducting an inquiry into the non-compliances committed by Prasanna Money Exchange (Pvt) Ltd upon the temporary suspension of the permit issued to the company to engage in the money changing business at its head office and branch located at No. 42A, Mudalige Mawatha, Colombo 01 and No. 57, Galle Road, Colombo 06, respectively, the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka decided to permanently revoke the permit No. DFE/RD/0058 issued to Prasanna Money Exchange (Pvt) Ltd, in terms of section 11 (3) of the Foreign Exchange Act No. 12 of 2017 (the Act).
The public is hereby informed that Prasanna Money Exchange (Pvt) Ltd is no longer permitted to engage in money changing activities as an Authorized Money Changer and buying, selling and exchanging foreign currency with Prasanna Money Exchange (Pvt) Ltd is considered as a contravention of the provisions of the Act.
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External Sector Performance – October 2022
Earnings from merchandise exports declined in October 2022, on a year-on-year basis, for the first time since March 2022, mainly due to lower earnings from garments exports. The decline in import expenditure continued in October 2022, (y-o-y), for the eighth consecutive month, despite recording an increase, compared to September 2022. The merchandise trade deficit recorded a notable contraction in October 2022, compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, the workers’ remittances steadied and earnings from tourism improved in October 2022, whereby earnings from tourism crossed over USD 1 bn during January-October 2022, while workers’ remittances reached about USD 3 bn during January-October 2022. Foreign investment in the government securities market and the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) recorded a marginal net inflow during October 2022. The Central Bank continued to provide forex requirement to finance essential imports, exhausting the liquid level of gross official reserves. Meanwhile, the weighted average spot exchange rate in the interbank market remained around Rs. 363 per US dollar during the month.
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CCPI based headline inflation decreased for the second consecutive month in November 2022
Headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI, 2013=100) decreased to 61.0% in November 2022 from 66.0% in October 2022. Following a similar trend, the Food inflation (Y-o-Y) decreased to 73.7% in November 2022 from 85.6% in October 2022, while the Non-Food inflation (Y-o-Y) decreased to 54.5% in November 2022 from 56.3% in October 2022.