It has been reported to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) that a phishing attempt  has been initiated targeting mainly the financial institutions of Sri Lanka and the phishing emails appear to be sent from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Department of  CBSL with the subject “Notice From Central Bank Of Sri Lanka EPF". The content of the email was reported to be with links to malicious web sites and downloadable malicious software.

The CBSL wishes to inform the general public and institutions that the EPF Department  of CBSL has not  sent out such emails. The public and institutions are adviced  to be alert of this ongoing phishing attempt and  not  open suspicious emails with the subject “Notice From Central Bank Of Sri Lanka EPF" or open its  attachments or click  on any  of its links. 

Manufacturing activities increased at a slower rate in December compared to November mainly driven by the slowdown in employment and production, especially in manufacturing of textiles, wearing apparels, leather and related activities. A significant decline in employment was experienced as some employees moved to seasonal jobs for better salaries. This partly impacted on decrease in production. However, new orders increased mainly driven by the manufacturing of food and beverages activities with the continued festival season demand. 

Meanwhile, stock of purchases indicates an increase due to intended accumulation of stocks to fulfil the future requirements anticipating supply disruptions due to upcoming  Chinese new year festival. In line with this, suppliers’ delivery time also lengthened.