News & market updates

Sri Lanka sold Rs71 billion of government bonds out of Rs122 billion offered—Rs50.20bn of 01 Jul 2030 at an average yield of 9.77% and Rs20.85bn of 01 Jul 2037 at an average yield of 11.08%; settlement on Aug 1.

Secondary bond yields edged up and activity remained muted ahead of a Rs.122 billion Treasury bond auction (Rs.90bn 1 Jul 2030, 9.75% coupon; Rs.32bn 1 Jul 2037, 10.75%) settling 1 Aug. Short-tenor yields traded higher, call/Repo averaged 7.83%/7.86%, net liquidity was Rs.102.87bn and USD/LKR ~301.95/302.03.

Delmege Insurance Brokers, a member of the Delmege Group, was ranked No.1 in Sri Lanka for the second consecutive year with an 8.3% market share in the IRCSL Global and Local Insurance Outlook 2024. Vallibel One PLC's managing director, who also heads the Delmege Group, commented on the milestone.

AIA Sri Lanka held its Sales Convention 2025 at the Shangri‑La Colombo to honour top-performing Wealth Planners; Sanjeewani Somarathna was named Best Wealth Planner for the fifth consecutive year.

CA Sri Lanka has committed to fully adopt the IFRS/ISSB Sustainability Disclosure Standards (SLFRS S1 and S2), with phased implementation from January 2025 and mandatory compliance for the first 100 Main Board CSE-listed entities by 2025, expanding to full rollout by 2030.

Continental Insurance Lanka appointed Dr. Naomal Balasuriya and Dr. K. Thiyagarajah Iraivan to its Board; both bring extensive healthcare, management and governance experience and have prior links to Melstacorp and Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka.

The Association of Professional Bankers hosted a panel at the Bank of Ceylon where CISOs from Commercial Bank and Hatton National Bank and other experts discussed strengthening cyber risk supervision and digital resilience for the banking sector.

IRCSL and the FIU held an AML/CFT awareness session on 4 June for insurance brokering companies to prepare for the Asia Pacific Group Mutual Evaluation in Q1 2026, covering Customer Due Diligence rules, suspicious transaction reporting and employee due diligence.

Primary dealers' forum reviewed the Public Debt Management Act No.33 of 2024, which shifts debt securities issuance from the Central Bank to the Treasury and mandates a five-year rolling debt strategy, auctions and public disclosure. Officials from the Public Debt Management Office, Central Bank, regulators and industry discussed implications for transparency and risk governance.

The Cabinet approved awarding SriLankan Airlines' aviation insurance policies (11 Aug 2025–10 Aug 2026) and aviation insurance services (11 Aug 2025–10 Aug 2028) to Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation General, which was the substantially responsive evaluated bidder.

HNB General Insurance hosted 'Celebrating Excellence 2025', honouring staff and 24 Platinum Club sales achievers. The event also highlighted HNBGI's digital initiatives, including the Sayuru mobile platform developed with Dialog Axiata.

Britain and India will sign a free trade agreement during Prime Minister Modi's UK visit to cut tariffs and boost bilateral trade by 25.5 billion pounds by 2040. Key terms include steep cuts to Scotch whisky and car tariffs, expanded services access and clean‑energy procurement.

Union Assurance (UAL.N0000) held its Partnership Distribution Annual Awards 2024, highlighting expansion of its bancassurance and corporate channels and claiming the largest partnership portfolio among private banks. The company said it is broadening strategic partnerships to improve accessibility to life insurance.

Janashakthi Insurance (JINS.N0000) was named Best Life Insurance Company for Digital Transformation — Sri Lanka 2025 by the UK Global Banking & Finance Awards. The company highlighted its next-generation Agent Virtual Office, RPA in underwriting and claims, a digital customer portal, AI-driven recommendations and a customer app as key initiatives.

Sri Lanka Insurance Life holds the Suba Pathum Scholarship Awards Ceremony today at BMICH, recognising 225 students (top 75 in Grade 5, O/L and A/L). The programme has awarded over 2,000 scholarships worth more than Rs. 220 million to date.

AIA Insurance and PodHub released the fourth episode of their 'Rethink Healthy' podcast featuring Noeline Pereira, founder of Noeline’s salon chain, highlighting personal, mental and community-focused wellness as part of the campaign.

Janashakthi Insurance Company PLC (Janashakthi Life) was named Best Life Insurance Company for Digital Transformation – Sri Lanka 2025 by the UK-based Global Banking & Finance Awards. The award recognises its digital initiatives including a customer app, digital Agent Virtual Office, RPA and AI-driven product tools.

HNB Assurance held its 2025 Staff Conference with over 850 employees, presenting long-service and performance awards and officially launching a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) framework. The CEO said the company has grown at twice the pace of the industry.

Colombo bourse hit a new high as the ASPI closed at 19,044, up roughly 70–77 points while the S&P SL20 fell about 8 points; turnover was around Rs.5.3–5.4bn and net foreign outflow stood at Rs.121.4m.

The All Share Price Index rose 0.37% to 19,044 while the S&P SL20 fell 0.15% to 5,646; turnover was 5.3 billion rupees and DFCC, Central Finance, Co-operative Insurance, C T Holdings and Lanka Realty Investments were notable gainers.

Dialog Axiata has partnered with HNB General Insurance to introduce parametric insurance for day-boat fishermen via the Sayuru app, providing automatic compensation when officially declared cyclone conditions prevent fishing.

Secondary bond trading was muted and T-bill weighted average yields rose for a second week — 91-day 7.62%, 182-day 7.91%, 364-day 8.04% — while interbank liquidity fell to Rs.87.01bn. Foreign holdings of rupee treasuries recorded a net inflow of Rs.2.57bn and USD/LKR depreciated to about 301.7.

Sri Lanka sold 5,999 million rupees of on-tap Treasury bills, including 12-month paper, at an average yield of 8.04%, with settlement on July 18. The debt office had earlier raised 85 billion rupees of 3-, 6- and 12-month bills on July 16.

Tysers says it is the technical reinsurance partner to the National Insurance Trust Fund (NITF), asserts its engagement was compliant and transparent, notes a historical DOJ matter in Ecuador was resolved via a voluntary Deferred Prosecution Agreement, and highlights new ownership and strengthened compliance.

Profit-taking dragged the Colombo market down, with ASPI closing 8 points lower (‑0.04%) at 18,877 on turnover of Rs.6.2bn and foreign net selling of Rs.115.2m. COMB, MELS, SAMP and NDB were top negative contributors while JETS, SERV and AEL recorded gains.

CBSL reported Manufacturing PMI at 51.9 in June (down from 55.5 in May) and Services PMI at 61.9 (up from 57), showing expansion in both sectors. The three-month outlook is positive, though exporters and some service firms cite concerns over US trade policies and proposed taxes on cross-border electronic services.

Sri Lanka Insurance Life (SLIC Life) has been shortlisted as a finalist in three categories — Insurance Company of the Year, Executive Champion of the Year, and Financial Adviser of the Year — at the 10th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards 2025 (ceremony 19 Aug, Singapore).

Tysers clarified it acted as a technical reinsurance partner to the National Insurance Trust Fund, saying its engagement complied with Sri Lankan law and tender processes and noting a decade-old DOJ matter in Ecuador was resolved via a voluntary Deferred Prosecution Agreement. The firm added it was acquired two years ago and has since strengthened compliance under new management.

Secondary Treasury bond market was subdued and consolidating, with selected maturities trading between 7.90% and 8.99% and total secondary turnover of Rs. 43.32 billion on 11 July. Overnight call money/repo were ~7.75-7.76%, net liquidity surplus Rs. 109.03bn, USD/LKR closed at Rs. 300.97/301.00 (FX turnover $68.10m).

Union Assurance celebrated top performers of its Pan Asia Bank bancassurance channel, recognising Edward Kevin as Individual Category winner and Kotahena Branch as Top-performing Branch while reaffirming the partnership.