Business
Covid-hit hotel industry seeks urgent support from government
THASL Chief says support needed to prevent widespread devastation
Hotel industry alone employs approximately 250,000 staff
Seeks loan interest waiver for Rs. 350 bn debt till business rebounds to pre-pandemic level
Says banks are very understanding but they are reluctant to take a haircut
‘If govt reduces bank taxes by 2-3%, banks would be happy to accommodate our request’
‘There’s a lot of international donor funding available for hospitality industry’
‘None of the hotels have defaulted on any loans before’
‘Industry looks forward to 2021 with determination’
BY HARISCHANDRA GUNARATNA
As the hotel industry is forced to live with zero revenues with international travel becoming a long forgotten phenomenon in this Covid world, The Island Financial Review recently spoke with Sanath Ukwatte, President of The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) to find out how the whole thing is weighing on his mind.
Following are excerpts from the interview we had with him.
“THASL is recognised for the incredible work it has done to support tourism in Sri Lanka. No other association or industry body of any industry has done so much under so much pressure. The fact that THASL has managed to obtain almost everything we have asked from the government to support the industry is remarkable. No other industry body has managed that”.
“At the moment the entire tourism industry has collectively taken loans amounting to Rs. 350 billion. 80% is from hotels big and small. It’s not as big compared to the assets. Total hotel assets are worth around $10b at present valuations. This fact was mentioned by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa during the Budget speech recently. None of the hotels have defaulted on any loans before. Moratorium is only a temporary solution as interest is accumulating during the moratorium period”.
“Since Easter attacks hotel debt is on moratorium. Pandemic came from no where. And again we are on moratorium. That’s why we are requesting the government for an interest waiver for 2 years or until international travel is restored and industry gets back to normal”.
“Banks are very understanding but they are reluctant to take a haircut. If the government reduces their taxes by 2-3% they would be happy to accommodate our request or else the government will have find another mechanism. There’s a lot of international donor funding available for hospitality industry as this is a global problem. 1 in 10 workers is employed by the travel industry, whether it be hotels, airlines, cruise lines, travel agents, theme parks, restaurants, retail etc”.
“As the worst affected industry due to COVID-19, governments world over have announced targeted relief for the hotel sector. Naturally THASL seeks government assistance to grant short-term and medium-term relief for the industry until the business bounces back”.
“We must also remember that our sector was completely crippled by the Easter Sunday attacks and as we were just about recovering from January this year onwards, industry came to a grinding halt in March as a result of this pandemic. Both these unfortunate events were out of our control. Now we are in a serious situation. Our priority is to maintain the livelihoods of 500,000 direct and indirect employees. Hotel industry alone employs approximately 250,000 staff who have undergone years of training. It’s a pity to lose staff who are committed and have made a career in the industry. In total there are 2 million dependents on tourism industry both indirectly and directly.
“In 2018, in addition to the salary, average service charge of a hotel employee was Rs: 25,000 per month. Now all that is lost. Hotels are struggling to pay monthly salaries to their permanent employees as company reserves has now depleted. Already nearly 20,000 have lost jobs. They were mainly trainees or who have worked for less than one year. Even the restrictions between inter provincial travel and 50 people limit for weddings and events have badly impacted on local business”.
“New Year’s Eve which is an important day for all hotels in the country in terms of revenue is all subdued now due to government’s call to restrict gatherings. The businesses are in danger. Cash flow has become a serious issue for hotels and jobs are at risk. That’s why we seek government support to restructure hotel debt with a two year interest waiver and a long term settlement plan for capital repayment”.
“Currently total hotel debt stands around Rs 350 billion. We have also requested the government to grant us the wage support scheme for the most vulnerable employees for which the Cabinet has already given the go-ahead. As a result of the 2nd wave of the virus UNWTO has revised the prospect for the international tourist travel for 2021 to a negative growth. Although we welcome the government’s decision to re-open the airport for tourists from January – a step in the right direction – it will take a minimum two years for the industry to rebound. Small and medium sized enterprises consist about 70% of the tourism industry. That’s why we call for financial and political support to enable critical recovery measures as speedily as possible.”
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SLT-Mobitel, the nation’s ICT and Telecommunications Service Provider recently partnered with Spotify, to mark their launch in Sri Lanka. Spotify is a paid premium music streaming app which allows subscribers to listen to music to their hearts content. Both, SLT-Mobitel Post-Paid and Pre-Paid customers will now be able to enjoy Spotify by activating a monthly recurring subscription or one-time subscription plan and access unlimited music streaming and downloading facilities.
The subscription charges will get added to the user’s customary billing, where payment will be deducted in real time. Starting from the payment date, the user will be able to access Spotify and download their favourite songs, for the next 30 days. Users who sign up for their first monthly subscription will receive an additional one month, courtesy of Spotify. The one-month subscription plan is not applicable with one-time subscription plans. SLT-Mobitel data rates, depending on the user’s respective broadband charges, will apply.
Spotify also has some exciting features that will provide SLT-Mobitel customers with the opportunity to listen to ad-free music, access millions of uninterrupted music under one platform, play any song they like, anywhere they go, and also be able to enjoy their music offline.
SLT-Mobitel customers can select their preferred premium package under four categories; Individual, Duo, Family, Student. Each category has recurring and non-recurring plans. After one month of free streaming, the package will activate once the offer period terminates. While both, the Individual and Student premiums are limited to one account user, the Duo package offers two accounts and the Family premium is accessible through six accounts. To view Spotify plans, users can log on to https://spoti.fi/3aLWvce
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by Sanath Nanayakkare
Anyone conversant with the elements of a political economy would know that Sri Lanka is using its ‘sovereign power’ to manage the different dynamics of the economy in a sustainable manner, Professor W. D Lakshman Governor of the Central Bank said on Wednesday.
“Some critics are saying that we adopt a so-called modern monetary theory. That’s not the case. In fact, Sri Lanka is using its sovereign power in a number of economic aspects to honour its external debt repayment commitments as well as to reduce its debt burden in the medium term as well as achieve resilient growth in the medium to long term, he said.
“We make policy decisions to boost our gross foreign reserves, meet our external debt servicing, to facilitate monetary expansion, to boost our GDP growth, to strengthen our current account balance and manage our domestic and external economic variables in a sustainable manner. This is not a modern monetary theory. This is an age-old tool used by central banks around the world when the circumstances demand it, he said.
“Certain trade-offs will be necessary when dealing with an economy which has a big fiscal gap to bridge. There are efforts to push Sri Lanka towards the IMF again which would in turn have influence on our policymaking. We have taken policy measures to stabilize the economy and we have adequate reserve levels to meet our debt repayments. Meanwhile, we are in negotiations with overseas central banks and multilateral agencies to further boost our reserve level and it would materialise within a matter of weeks,” he noted.
“One of the tools the Central Bank has introduced is in respect of repatriation of export proceeds into Sri Lanka and conversion of such proceeds into Sri Lankan rupees in order to strengthen the foreign exchange situation of the country,” he said.
The Governor made these remarks while delivering the keynote speech at a webinar organised by the Veemansa Initiative led by its Managing Director Luxman Siriwardene – the former Executive Director of Pathfinder Foundation.
The webinar revolved round the topic ‘External debt situation in Sri Lanka: Are we heading for a resolution or crisis?’
Professor Sirimal Abeyratne, Prof. Sumanasiri Liyanage, Dr. Nishan de Mel and Dr. Ravi Liyanage were the other speakers on the panel.
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By Hiran H.Senewiratne
CSE produced signs of a rebound yesterday with both indices closing positive, though turnover remained low. Central Bank Governor W.D Lakshman’s recent statement on managing foreign reserves gave some boost to the market yesterday, stock market analysts said.
The index experienced a zigzag movement within the early hours of trading; thereafter, it recorded a slight up-trend as it reached its intraday high of 7,439. Later, the market witnessed a down-trend at mid-day, followed by a sideways movement and closed at 7,372, gaining 43 points during the month of February, market sources said.
It is said the banking sector dominated turnover with a contribution of considerable parcel trades in Sampath Bank, Commercial Bank and HNB.
Further, the Commercial Bank’s impressive quarterly results during the recent turbulent period also built investor confidence. Commercial Bank was able to register a18 percent net interest income when other banks were reporting a decline. Its share price increased by Rs. 3 or 3.5 percent. On the previous day, its shares started trading at Rs. 85 and at the end of the day they moved up to Rs. 88. Due to the positive growth results, the bank announced a Rs. 4.40 dividend per share, plus a Rs. 2 script divergent for every share.
Further, Sampath Bank shares also appreciated in both crossing and retail. In crossings its shares appreciated by Rs. 1.At the end of the day they moved up to Rs. 154.50. In the retail market, its shares moved up by Rs. 2 or 1.3 percent. Previously, its shares fetched Rs. 154 and at the end of yesterday they moved up to Rs. 156.
Amid those developments, both indices moved upwards. The All Share Price Index went up by 104.48 points and S and P SL20 rose by 67.78 points. Turnover stood at Rs. 3 billion with four crossings. Those crossings were reported in Sampath Bank, where 3.9 million shares crossed for Rs. 602.2 million, its share price being Rs. 154.50, HNB 375,000 shares crossed for Rs. 39.4 million, its shares traded at Rs. 105, Pan Asia Power 9.5 million shares crossed for Rs. 33.2 million, its shares traded at Rs. 3.50 and Access Engineering 1.2 million shares crossed for Rs. 28.2 million; its shares traded at Rs. 24.
In the retail market top five companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were, Expolanka Rs. 450 million (10 million shares traded), JKH Rs. 205 million (1.3 million shares traded), Browns Investments Rs. 199 million (34.9 million shares traded), Sampath Bank Rs. 191 million (1.2 million shares traded) and Dipped Products Rs. 137.7 million (2.8 million shares traded). During the day 101 million share volumes changed hands in 18046 transactions.
During the day, Expolanka, the biggest contributor to the turnover, saw its share price appreciating by Rs. 6.20 or 15 percent. Its share price quoted on the previous day was Rs. 41 and at the end of trading yesterday it moved up to Rs. 47.
Sri Lanka’s rupee quoted wider at 193.50/195.50 levels to the US dollar in the spot next market on Thursday while bond yields remained unchanged, dealers said. The rupee last closed in the spot market at 194.50/195.00 to the dollar on Wednesday.
