Business
CSE’s newest digital push expected to make it worth US$ 60 billion in 5 years
by Sanath Nanayakkare
The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) with its newest digitalization drive should do well enough in the next 5 years to accumulate a market capitalization of US $ 60 billion, Ajith Nivard Cabraal, State Minister of Money and Capital Market and State Enterprise Reforms said yesterday.
“Then the Colombo Stock Exchange will have a capacity which can provide funding not only to the government sector but also to the private sector making sure that the President’s goals of prosperity will be achieved,” he said.
Minister Cabraal made these remarks on the trading floor of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) yesterday at a special market opening ceremony where Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa launched a new digital platform for CSE, enhancing the investment experience for investors, stockbrokers, listed companies and other stakeholders.
The digital strategy themed ‘Hyper-Leap to the future’ is formed to digitalise all stakeholder touchpoints enabling end to end connectivity electronically. It will position Sri Lanka to become a global financial hub redefining the stock market landscape.
Elaborating on his point the state minister said,” As a person who on been involved in the stock exchange and securities matters for a long time in various capacities, I know how difficult it is to get a project of this nature going. I know you have put in a lot of work. Way back in 1993 at the time I was the president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, we organized the mCentral Depository System (CDS) for the first time. I think that was a revolution – a special one- because all the brokers who were struggling with share certificates and documentation were suddenly relieved of all these duties and they could go out and sell, go out and make the market a lot more vibrant. I see an opportunity like that once again,
“The digitalization will take away from brokers as well as market players a lot of paperwork and mundane tasks that have been so far done by you personally. When you are relieved of these duties I am sure you will find enough time to make the market work more efficiently and productively. You need to have buyers whose numbers are increasing and you need to have sellers who will be providing the supply of shares in this business. This means you need to focus on these vital areas and aspects in the market.
“You have got to make sure that the number of shares you have is expanded regularly. I have been around long enough to know that the number of companies that have been trading on the stock exchange has remained almost stagnant for so many years. Every time when someone asks how many companies are there on the stock exchange, we say 200 something. I think this ‘200 something’ has been the number for the last 30 years. So, 5 years from now, we’d like to see this number being spoken of as ‘500 something’. I think you all can do that. As CSE chairman already mentioned there is an effort to make these numbers grow. There is ample opportunity. If all of you take the pains to do that, you can make it happen.
“In 2014, when President Mahinda Rajapaksa relinquished office at the end of 2014 – the market capitalization of CSE was 25 billion dollars. By the end of 2019, it came down to just half of that. – only 12 ½ billion dollars, marking a massive drop. We need to grow this market again. We need to make sure that your efforts are directed towards making the market to expand. The Director General of SEC said, you want the government to come here and use this as a repository of funds. With a 12 ½ billion dollar market cap, I don’t think you can do that. So set your sights high. Set your sights at US $ 60 billion dollars, if I may suggest, for the next 5 years. Then you will have a capacity which can provide funding not only to the government sector but to the private sector making sure that the President’s goals of prosperity will be achieved.
“My Friends, we have our work cut out. The President and the Prime Minister have given you the indication that support will be extended to the stock exchange. I have been appointed as state minister in order to make us responsible for that task. So, I personally will be supporting you. I would like to see you take the direction to move forward. Now you have digitalization in place. I think you need to build on that foundation. There will be plenty to do to achieve our goal. You have got to make sure that you bring in capital that will support the market. This is not going to be easy. I remember from 2007 onwards we were going abroad, we were making sure that capital was adequate in this country.- When we could not raise it globally, we raised it from foreign sources. So, you need to do that. You need to provide capital to companies and you need to provide capital so that new instruments could also be put in place in this country. It would be of total relevance to see an SME Board, a Startup Board, an IT Board and maybe a mechanism to list the BOI companies also on the stock exchange. This means there ‘s plenty of space. Now that you have had the first hurdle cleared, the next is also going to be exciting and we’d like to see you take it up from here. Together we can usher in an era of prosperity in our country with the participation of a truly representative investor community,” he said.
SEC chairman President’s Counsel Viraj Dayaratne, SEC Director General Chinthaka Mendis, CSE chairman Dumith Fernando, and CSE CEO Rajeeva Bandaranaike also spoke at the event.
Author
- News Advertiesment
See Kapruka’s top selling online shopping categories such as Toys, Grocery, Flowers, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Clothing and Electronics. Also see Kapruka’s unique online services such as Money Remittence,News, Courier/Delivery, Food Delivery and over 700 top brands. Also get products from Amazon & Ebay via Kapruka Gloabal Shop into Sri Lanka.
Author
-
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
Author
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.
Author
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.
