News & market updates

British Council Sri Lanka held the IELTS Partner Meet 2026 to recognise top partner organisations and present awards, and highlighted the transition to a fully computer-delivered IELTS while emphasising continued partner support and quality in delivery.

SLT-MOBITEL is partnering with the University of Peradeniya to launch Sri Lanka’s first AI-integrated BSc Eng Honours in Electronic and Intelligent Systems Engineering, commencing August 2026. The programme includes a PFLOPS-class GPU cluster, industry internships and applied research.

Siyapatha Finance PLC, a fully owned subsidiary of Sampath Bank (SAMP.N0000), opened its 62nd branch in Horana, expanding its islandwide network to 62 branches. The branch will offer leasing, fixed deposits, gold financing, loans and digital bill payments; Siyapatha holds a Fitch National Long-Term Rating of A(lka) (Stable).

George Steuart Insurance Brokers appointed T. S. Arulanandan as Managing Director and Principal Officer effective 1 April 2026, with regulatory approval, and added Ramanan David as a Non-Executive Director. The firm says it will expand reinsurance services and pursue Insurtech solutions as part of regional growth plans.

Unisys integrated Sri Lanka-based Fits Cargo into its Cargo Portal Services, expanding global air freight route options and booking capabilities for freight forwarders and adding Expedite All's US ground network for last-mile delivery. CPS serves more than 33,000 freight forwarding users, enabling pricing, booking and tracking in one portal.

Deputy Minister of Tourism says Sri Lanka must reposition to capture more of India's outbound travel—only about 531,000 of 32.7 million Indians travelling overseas in 2025 visited Sri Lanka. He highlighted AI/digital trends reshaping demand and flagged agriculture, marine and the creative economy as growth areas.

WEBXPAY appointed Nemantha Nilhan Abeysinghe as an Independent Non-Executive Director to its board. He brings over three decades of corporate leadership and finance experience and the company says the appointment will strengthen governance as it expands beyond IPG and POS into broader technology-driven financial solutions.

People’s Bank announced its commitment to the National QR Payment Adoption Program, supporting it through its People’s Pay digital wallet with zero merchant fees on transactions up to Rs.5,000 and new P2P QR transfer functionality to boost QR-based payments adoption.

The Cabinet designated six firms as Businesses of Strategic Importance under the Colombo Port City Economic Commission, expected to attract $14.6m in FDI over five years and create about 650 jobs. The firms will operate across IT, logistics, consultancy, public utilities, infrastructure and maritime technology and receive incentives under the law.

Opposition MPs said the appointment of former Deputy Minister Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma as Treasury Secretary mirrors the 2021 politicised appointment of Ajith Nivard Cabraal as CBSL Governor, during debate over a $2.5m Treasury phishing scandal. They warned the move and the transition of government debt management from the CBSL to the Treasury expose institutional weaknesses and a departure from the tradition of appointing experienced SLAS finance officials.

Asian stocks rose to record highs as hopes of a Middle East peace deal spurred risk-on buying and sent oil down around 8%, while the U.S. dollar slipped and the yen remained in focus amid intervention speculation.

China has retooled its Belt and Road Initiative, with deals linked to the programme reaching a record $213 billion in 2025. The revamp emphasizes smaller projects, greater equity stakes (about 40% by 2025) and 'soft connectivity' to export standards, services and digital systems abroad.

Sri Lanka and Türkiye held their second political consultations in Ankara on May 5, focusing on defence and security cooperation and exploring expanded investments and joint ventures in pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, tourism, logistics and technology. They also discussed connectivity, maritime cooperation and education links.

SLT‑MOBITEL served as the Bronze Communications Partner and broadcast the New Zealand U85kg Rugby Tour of Sri Lanka 2026 live via PEOTV (matches on 25 Apr and 3 May; New Zealand won 27–16 and 25–10). The sponsorship and live HD broadcasts highlight SLT‑MOBITEL’s role in sports broadcasting and digital services.

Minoli Wickramasinghe, CEO/Chairperson of Capital Trust Properties, was appointed President of the COYLE Ladies Chapter for 2026–2027. She will lead the 'Sip Shakthi' initiative to uplift rural schools by improving basic infrastructure, sanitary facilities, learning resources and introducing digital education tools.

LankaPay has become an Associate Partner of Kandy Sports Club to support and promote rugby development in Sri Lanka, extending its corporate engagement beyond payment technology into community and sports initiatives.

DFCC Bank (DFCC.N0000) was certified as a Full Member of the Federation of Information Technology Industry Sri Lanka (FITIS) for 2026 to strengthen its digital capabilities and access emerging technologies. The bank says it will embed digital transformation across operations to improve customer experience and processing.

Colombo Stock Exchange closed up 1.13% as the ASPI rose 258.09 points to 22,997 with turnover of Rs 5.28 billion and materials leading turnover (Rs 1.38bn). SMB Finance announced CEO Supul Chamikara Wijesinghe will resign effective June 3.

LCB Finance PLC marked its 10th anniversary and said it targets an asset base of Rs. 20 billion by 31 March 2027, after reporting total assets of Rs. 12,756 million and a net profit of Rs. 315 million for the year to 31 March 2026.

Allianz Lanka has partnered with WEBXPAY to roll out a comprehensive phygital digital payments ecosystem for customers and agents, enabling Google Pay, QR/Tap & Pay, split payments, instalment plans and seamless bank transfers to simplify premium collections.

Asian stocks jumped to record highs (MSCI Asia-Pacific ex-Japan +2.3%) as AI-driven buying and signs of progress toward a U.S.-Iran agreement boosted risk appetite; Brent crude fell about 1.2% to $108.51/bbl. Tech and semiconductors led gains while the dollar eased.

MP Ravi Karunanayake has called for a Parliamentary Select Committee to probe a $2.5m phishing cyber heist that siphoned state debt funds, alleging seven of ten fraudulent transactions occurred while the Central Bank controlled public debt operations. The theft used a Business Email Compromise with a fake domain and exposed failures in verification and multi-factor authentication.

Cabinet Spokesman Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said the international tender for personalised e-passports to the Department of Immigration and Emigration remains under evaluation and has not been finalised. He added eight foreign companies submitted bids and the Procurement Committee will decide per guidelines.

Tempest PE Partners completed three deals: a minority investment in Acentura (enterprise software), a majority acquisition of The Grand Surf Hotel (leisure/beach club) and a RM30m raise for Malaysian-listed PTT Synergy to scale smart warehousing. Tempest will play an active advisory role supporting governance, KPIs and regional expansion.

Binance launched “Withdraw Protection,” a user-controlled security feature that lets users lock on-chain withdrawals for one to seven days and choose early-unlock options requiring an authenticator app and security key or a strict no-early-unlock lockdown.

Softa Technologies' privacy-focused social platform ZKTOR has exceeded 500,000 beta users across India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, driven largely by Gen Z and young women. ZKTOR uses zero-knowledge architecture, no behaviour tracking and multilayer encryption, and plans expansion to Bhutan, Pakistan and the Maldives, signalling demand for privacy-led regional platforms and potential digital jobs in Sri Lanka.

NCINGA won the 2026 Google Cloud Partner of the Year Award for Social Impact: Community Empowerment and Resilience. The firm says it leverages Google Cloud and Google AI for digital inclusion, education, healthcare and renewable energy transition programs and directs 10% of net profits to its Foundation of Humanity.

Sri Lanka and the Maldives pledged deeper economic cooperation at the Maldives–Sri Lanka Business Forum in Colombo, with Maldives announcing investment‑friendly reforms and leaders urging expansion of bilateral trade (US$137m in 2025), tourism, infrastructure and sector partnerships.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon (COMB.N0000) was named 'Best Bank in Sri Lanka' by Global Finance for the 24th time. The bank highlighted stronger ROE (over 21%), low cost-to-income, controlled NPLs, asset/loan/deposit growth, leading SME lending and advances in digital innovation including AI underwriting.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka signed an MoU with Australia's Skills for an Inclusive Economy (S4IE) to pilot digital financial literacy training for MSMEs to improve access to finance and inform scalable policy. Lessons from the pilot will guide future CBSL programs and potential scale-up.