ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka Customs is likely to achieve a fresh record high revenue this year after reaching this year’s target of Rs. 2,207 billion this week, with more than 11 weeks to the year-end, analysts say.

Customs Spokesman Chandana Punchihewa said the revenue-collecting body had already surpassed this year’s target on Tuesday (13), reaching Rs. 2,208 billion.

The Customs exceeded its target for the second straight year in 2026.

Last year, Customs collected a record 2,551 billion rupees in revenue, exceeding a revised target of 2,241 billion rupees for the year and achieving 64.2% higher revenue than the previous year’s revenue of 1,553 million rupees.

Analysts say Customs will surpass last year’s record revenue by the end of November if there are no major policy reversals or disruptions to the economy in the country during that time.

Customs’ 2026 target of 2,207 billion was 13.5% less than last year’s because they originally expected a significant decline in car imports early this year. (Colombo/October 14/2026)

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka President Anura Kumara Dissanayake revealed the timeline for key laws related to State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) and Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) to boost investments in the island nation.

Delays in formulating and enacting key structural legislation, specifically governing SOE reforms, PPPs, labor market flexibility, and modernizing the century-old Customs Ordinance, have emerged as major bottlenecks to Sri Lanka’s long-term economic competitiveness and fiscal sustainability.

The absence of a modernized legal framework for SOEs perpetuates fiscal leakages, inefficient governance, and persistent public sector debt burdens, while vague or outdated rules on PPPs and labor deter both domestic and foreign direct investment by creating regulatory ambiguity and rigid operational constraints.

Furthermore, the archaic Customs Ordinance of 1869 hinders trade facilitation, fosters administrative opacity, and creates revenue leakage risks at a time when export-led growth is critical.

Under the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement, Sri Lanka has committed to prioritizing these legislative enactments.

Commenting on these laws, President Dissanayake said the government has been working on them and expects them to be enacted soon.

“Regarding the SOE law, I expect it will be presented to the Cabinet in about two weeks,” Dissanayake told the gathering at the launch of the Sri Lanka Economic and Investment Summit 2026 on Monday (12).

“The PPP law has been drafted and submitted to the Legal Draftsman’s Department, and we have received their recommendations.”

“Regarding labour law, about twelve different labour statutes currently exist. We are consolidating these into unified legislation. A draft bill has already been formulated, though reviewing and finalizing it will take some time.”

He said an agreement has been reached on the Customs Ordinance following extensive discussions involving the Treasury and the Customs Department.

“The proposed amendments to the Customs Ordinance are the most appropriate way forward,” he said.

“Those proposals have now been submitted to the Legal Draftsman’s Department, and we expect the bill to be finalized promptly. Most likely, all of these bills will be presented to Parliament by February.”

The IMF contends that establishing transparent, enforceable, and modern legal frameworks is essential to eliminate governance vulnerabilities, enforce fiscal discipline, improve revenue collection, and signal regulatory stability to foreign investors, thereby ensuring Sri Lanka’s post-default recovery transitions into sustainable macroeconomic growth. (Colombo/October 14/2026)

ECONOMYNEXT — Sri Lanka listed investment company Standard Capital has disposed of its stake in subsidiary Standard Paints (Pvt) Ltd for a nominal consideration of 1650 rupees, saying the move would improve its financial position as the subsidiary carried a negative equity value.

In a disclosure to the Colombo Stock Exchange, Standard Capital said its board had previously decided on August 24, to either strike off the subsidiary or dispose of its equity stake for a nominal value.

The company subsequently sold its holdings in Standard Paints on September 28, comprising a 65 percent stake represented by 6.5 million ordinary voting shares and 100 percent of the subsidiary’s 10 million preferential shares.

The shares were disposed of for a total consideration of 1650 rupees. (Colombo/Oct14/2026)

Fitch Ratings-London: The recent sharp and widespread increase in government bond yields represents a significant increase in real global borrowing costs.

Bond yields have risen to multi-decade highs in the US, Germany, UK and Japan in recent weeks, as highlighted in Fitch Ratings’ latest Economic Monitor chart pack.

Ten-year government bond yields have risen in major global markets since the previous Fitch-20 Economic Monitor in June. US yields averaged 4.99% in September, up from 4.47% in June; 3.50% from 3.00% in Germany;
5.46% from 5.06% in the UK; and 2.99% from 2.65% in Japan. In Korea there also was a marked increase, with yields averaging 4.45% from 4.18% in June.

The chart pack highlights another notable development: the pick-up in world trade growth, driven by an IT investment boom that has boosted capital goods imports in the US. Trade growth has surged in several countries, including Mexico, Korea, Canada and Indonesia.

The quarterly ‘Fitch-20 Economic Monitor’ (formerly ‘20/20 Vision’) chart pack covers the 20 major economies (the Fitch-20) that are the focus of Fitch’s Economics team’s global macro analysis, and plots five years of high-frequency economic data for 20 variables, with consistent coverage across each country.

‘Fitch-20 Economic Monitor: September 2026’ is available by clicking the link above or at www.fitchratings.com.

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s cabinet has approved obtaining a 100 million dollar results-based loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to implement a Skills Development System Transformation Programme aimed at strengthening the country’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) sector.

“The financing package comprises 50 million dollars in regular ordinary capital resources and 50 million dollars in concessional ordinary capital resources,” minister Nalinda Jayatissa said.

The funds are intended to support sector reforms and the development of a more effective skills development system aligned with labour market needs, he claimed. (Colombo/Oct14/2026)

Fitch Ratings – Singapore: Fitch Ratings has assigned Sampath Bank PLC’s (AA-(lka)/Stable) proposed Sri Lankan rupee-denominated Basel III-compliant subordinated debentures of up to LKR10 billion a final National Long-Term Rating of ‘A(lka)’.

The proposed debentures, which will mature in five and seven years, will be listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. The bank plans to use the proceeds to supplement its Tier 2 capital base to maintain capital adequacy compliance as well as to support loan book growth.

The proposed debentures will qualify as Basel III-compliant regulatory Tier 2 capital. The debentures include a non-viability clause that states they will convert to ordinary voting shares upon the occurrence of a trigger event, as determined by the Governing Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

The final rating is the same as the expected rating assigned on 10 September 2026 and follows the receipt of documents conforming to information already received.

Key Rating Drivers

Fitch rates the proposed Basel III Tier 2 debentures two notches below the bank’s National Long-Term Rating of ‘AA-(lka)’. This reflects Fitch’s baseline notching for loss severity for this type of debt and our expectations of poor recoveries. There is no additional notching for non-performance risks, as the proposed debentures do not incorporate going-concern loss-absorption features.

Sampath’s National Long-Term Rating is used as the anchor rating for this instrument because the rating reflects the bank’s standalone financial strength and best indicates the risk of the bank becoming non-viable.

Fitch affirmed Sampath’s ratings on 17 August 2026. See our latest rating action commentary, Fitch Affirms Sampath Bank at ‘AA-(lka)’; Outlook Stable , for the key rating drivers and sensitivities.

Rating Sensitivities

Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Negative Rating Action/Downgrade
A downgrade of the bank’s National Long-Term Rating will lead to a downgrade of the subordinated debt rating.

Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Positive Rating Action/Upgrade
An upgrade of the bank’s National Long-Term Rating will lead to an upgrade of the subordinated debt rating.