The Government has decided to waive off three months of rent of all duty free shops and service providers at Bandaranaike International Airport due to closure on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.

State authorities are now conducting a survey to ascertain how Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises’ (MSME) will face the economic impact of Covid-19 and where they need to focus efforts.

Sri Lankan economy is set to face a modest recession of around – 0.6 or a slow growth of 1.4 per cent if the corona virus is contained within two or three more months under moderate global recovery even with high overall impact on the island nation, economic analysts said.

The global economy could suffer between $5.8 trillion and $8.8 trillion in losses — equivalent to 6.4% to 9.7% of global gross domestic product (GDP) — as a result of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, says a new report released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) last week.

Business leader Dhammika Perera’s prediction on the number of global COVID-19 last week during the Daily FT-SC Securities webinar has come true.

A net outflow of the foreign investment amounting to $ 118 million was recorded from the rupee denominated Government securities market in February, resulting in a cumulative net outflow of $ 99 million during the first two months of 2020.

Sri Lankan Airlines is set to resume scheduled flights by June if health authorities give the go head, Chairman of the national carrier Ashok Pathirage said.

SriLanka’s trade deficit widened in February as the economic shock related to the global corona virus pandemic held down both imports and exports.

Foreign investors are gradually returning to Sri Lanka bond market speeding up inflows with the resumption of economic activity in the island nation taking the stance of living with Covid-19, official sources said.