News & market updates

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka launched the CA Leadership Academy and published four governance guides, notably Guidelines on AI for Finance Professionals and a Guideline on IT Governance for Directors, to strengthen board-level capabilities and governance standards.

SLT‑MOBITEL, with the Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Ministry, launched the Lankakonect mobile app to let Sri Lankans abroad register and track consular and employment complaints in Sinhala, Tamil and English. The app provides real-time tracking for complaints and aims to reduce travel and delays for emigrant workers.

Colombo market extended losses as the ASPI fell 1.03% for the week to 22,178.73 and the S&P SL20 fell 0.85% to 6,194.22. Market turnover topped Rs.1.5bn with foreigners net sellers of Rs.157.9m and notable moves from SAMP, CINS, JKH, RCL (weak) and DIAL, BUKI, CARS, AEL, COMB (positive/active).

China EXIM Bank Vice President Yang Dongning met Sri Lanka's Deputy Minister of Finance on 2 July 2026 to review and expedite the amended financing agreement for the Central Expressway Project (CEP-1) Section I, targeting signature before end‑August 2026. They also discussed cooperation to support tourism, value-added manufacturing, logistics, energy, IT and higher-education links.

Realised FDI reached about $250m in 1H and BOI Director General Dr. Sulakshana Jayawardena outlined a reform agenda including a digital single-window approval platform targeted this year, an Investment Protection Act, and land and skills reforms to boost investor confidence.

Colombo market fell for a third session as the ASPI dropped 0.10% (21.79 pts) to 22,221.91 on heavy foreign net selling of Rs. 774.2 million. Top negative contributors included SPEN, SAMP, DFCC, CTC and CINS while CARG, DIAL, JKH and MELS supported the index; capital goods led turnover (55%).

ASUS Sri Lanka opened its third exclusive store in Galle — the brand's first in the Southern Province — offering its laptop ranges (ROG, TUF, ProArt, Zenbook, Vivobook) and the ASUS 4A Guarantee for after-sales support and warranty coverage.

Deloitte Sri Lanka hosted the Saarthi Programme for independent directors in Colombo to discuss evolving board governance priorities, focusing on cyber and technology risks, fraud risk management, AI and social media governance to strengthen board oversight and organisational resilience.

The Sri Lanka–Germany Business Council held Members' Day where Germany reaffirmed cooperation and highlighted opportunities in logistics, manufacturing, renewable energy, green technologies, digital transformation and tourism. SLGBC also announced a CSR project to support a local school's infrastructure.

SLT‑MOBITEL Nebula Institute of Technology held its 2026 graduation, awarding qualifications to 204 graduates including 39 Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) from the University of Hertfordshire and multiple Pearson BTEC HND and diploma recipients, highlighting its role in developing Sri Lanka's ICT and engineering talent.

Emirates customers have made more than one million connections to Starlink Wi-Fi since the service launched across the airline's fleet seven months ago. The system is fitted on 33 Boeing 777s and three A380s, with over 60 Starlink-equipped flights daily and A380s offering more than 2 Gbps combined bandwidth.

NCINGA and AWS held the inaugural 'GROUNDED' Sovereign Cloud Symposium on June 17 to introduce AWS Outposts for on‑shore hybrid cloud; the government endorsed a Cloud‑First policy and aims to grow the digital economy 5X to over $15bn by 2030 and become a regional data‑centre hub.

TikTok unveiled Symphony Agent at Cannes Lions 2026, an agentic AI for creating TikTok-first campaigns that combines audience insights, trend data and creator sourcing to produce ads at scale. The tool, available in South Asia via Symphony Creative Studio, includes AI labels, invisible watermarks and content moderation.

TUDO.LK has introduced Google Pay Express Checkout, letting customers complete eligible purchases using payment details saved to their Google account for faster, streamlined checkout on supported devices and browsers.

GovTech Sri Lanka Ltd appointed Shevan Goonetilleke as CEO, effective 19 August 2026. He brings over 25 years' technology and digital platform leadership and will lead delivery of national digital infrastructure and government digital services.

GITA, together with the Indo‑Lanka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has launched an India Trade Desk in Colombo to provide end-to-end, one-to-one advisory and market-entry support for Sri Lankan firms seeking to expand into India. The service targets SMEs and larger firms across textiles, food processing, ICT/BPM, tourism, pharma, logistics, manufacturing and renewable energy.

Visa says its Click to Pay solution will simplify Sri Lankan online checkout by removing manual card entry and using tokenisation to reduce fraud, aiming to increase conversion rates for merchants across retail, travel and digital services.

The Sri Lanka–Germany Business Council held its Members' Day, with Germany reaffirming bilateral partnership and participants highlighting trade and investment opportunities in logistics, manufacturing, renewable energy/green tech, digital transformation and tourism; SLGBC also announced a CSR project and networking initiatives.

LNBTI's InfernoX Inter-School Hackathon Grand Finale features 22 teams from 15 schools competing for a Rs. 1 million prize pool. Finalists will present projects across AI, disaster management, education, agriculture, healthcare, food safety and robotics.

Dialog Axiata (DIAL.N0000) launched Dialog Air Fibre, the country's first 5G-powered wireless home broadband with plans: 100GB Rs.2,795; 200GB Rs.3,795; 300GB Rs.5,495. The service runs on Dialog's 5G network (over 1,000 sites), offers up to six hours battery backup and 48-hour installation with refund if standards aren't met.

German Ambassador Felix Neumann urged continued trade facilitation to boost Sri Lanka–Germany ties, highlighting opportunities in logistics, manufacturing, renewable energy, digital transformation and tourism. He delivered the keynote at the Sri Lanka–Germany Business Council Members' Day to promote investment and collaboration.

Finance Ministry Tax Policy Adviser Thanuja Perera said VAT on overseas digital services took effect on 1 July and non-resident suppliers must register with the IRD by 30 September. She defended tougher Inland Revenue enforcement amid low compliance, confirmed the VAT threshold remains Rs.60m (SSCL Rs.36m) and said most VAT refunds are now processed within statutory deadlines.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka named 25 companies and platforms, including Infinity Rover Ltd., as operating illegal pyramid schemes under Section 83(C) of the Banking Act, warning the public against these specific firms and apps.

Colombo Stock Exchange closed with the ASPI down 0.06% at 22,229.71 while the S&P SL20 rose 0.05% to 6,209.85; market turnover was Rs.1.52bn and capital goods led turnover at Rs.834.9m. Dialog, Melstacorp and Bukit Darah were positive contributors, Aitken Spence, DFCC Bank and Ceylon Tobacco were top decliners, crossings were recorded in Hemas, Windforce and Printcare, and SANASA Life raised Rs.500m via subordinated debentures to meet regulatory capital requirements.

Carson Cumberbatch approved a second interim dividend of Rs.7.40 per ordinary share, totalling Rs.1.45 billion and exempt from withholding tax. Colombo markets were up midday (ASPI +0.08% at 22,260.75) with Dialog, Melstacorp, Sanasa Development Bank and Sampath as top positives and Ceylon Tobacco, DFCC and Aitken Spence as negatives; turnover Rs.388.5mn, capital goods led at Rs.62.4mn.

iPay supported the Central Bank's LankaQR Awareness Programme in Trincomalee on 5–6 June 2026 to promote LankaQR digital payments among tourism merchants in Trincomalee, Uppuveli, Nilaveli and Alles Garden. The company showcased iPay Business solutions and noted its market footprint (50% JustPay share, 1.2m downloads, ~1.8m monthly transactions).

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said the government aims to raise economic growth to 7–8% and identified IT and electrical & electronics as key sectors, noting targets of US$5bn in IT exports and US$2bn in electronics. He pledged Rs.2 trillion in capex and outlined measures (Virtual SEZ, data centre, customs Green Channel, incentives) to address import, banking and talent barriers.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka declared Infinity Rover (Pvt) Ltd an illegal/prohibited pyramid scheme and listed numerous other companies and apps as prohibited schemes under Section 83(C) of the Banking Act.

Binance is investing about $300 million annually in compliance and user protection to strengthen fraud prevention, investigations and law‑enforcement cooperation. The firm reports recovering $174M from hacks YTD 2026, $8.2B in missent assets in 2025, and heavy investment in AI detection tools.

Fitch says Asia investors in June 2026 are focused on AI disruption, private credit expansion and sovereign risk, flagging AI and digital-infrastructure overspend as emerging credit risks. Investors also flagged opacity and liquidity risks in private credit and noted sovereign vulnerabilities in Indonesia amid currency and policy concerns.