ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka energy firm WindForce said its 5MW floating solar power plant developed by subsidiary Diyajanani, and a grid-scale, standalone Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) developed with Vidullanka are scheduled to be commissioned today.

The 10 MW/40 MWh BESS facility in Anuradhapura, developed through StoreX (Pvt) Ltd, is the first of 13 BESS facilities that will collectively provide 130 MW/520 MWh of energy storage capacity.

The floating solar plant is expected to generate approximately 9 GWh of renewable energy annually, WindForce said in a market filing.

“Following the commissioning of these projects, WindForce PLC’s total renewable energy generation capacity has increased to approximately 268 MW.” (Colombo/Sep18/2026)

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s L B Finance said it has incorporated its subsidiary LB Finance Philippines Inc in the Southeast Asian nation.

“The incorporation of the Company’s subsidiary in the Republic of Philippines, under the name “LB Finance Philippines Inc.”, has been duly completed,” the company said in a market filing.

“The Certificate of Incorporation and Authority to operate as a Finance Company dated 01st September
2026 was received by the Company on 17th September 2026.”

Fitch Ratings upgraded LB’s National Long-Term Rating to ‘A-(lka)’, from ‘BBB+(lka)’, in January 2025, after a Sri Lankan national rating recalibration.

The stock was trading up 1 rupee at 153.50. (Colombo/Sep18/2026)

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s rupee was quoted at 330.90/331.25 to the US dollar in the spot market on Friday, improving from 331.50/90 the previous day, while bond yields extended recovery as rates dropped on buying interest, dealers said.

A bond maturing on 15.09.2029 was quoted at 10.85/90 percent, down from 10.90/11.00 percent.

A bond maturing on 01.08.2030 was quoted at 11.20/25 percent, down from 11.30/40 percent.

A bond maturing on 01.02.2031 was quoted at 11.30/35 percent, down from 11.42/48 percent.

A bond maturing on 15.12.2032 was quoted at 11.60/70 percent, down from 11.70/80 percent.

A bond maturing on 01.11.2033 was quoted at 11.85/90 percent, up from 11.80/85 percent.

A bond maturing on 15.10.2034 was quoted at 12.00/10 percent, down from 12.00/15 percent.

The telegraphic transfer rate for the dollar was 327.20 buying, 336.20 selling; the euro was 373.1683 buying, 386.9491 selling; pound was 436.0276 buying, 450.1360 selling.

On the Colombo Stock Exchange the All Share Price Index was up 0.18 percent, or 36.81 points, at 21,060; while the S&P SL20 was up 0.16 percent, 9.51 points, at 5,934. (Colombo/Sep18/2026)

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka wants to use the economic stability achieved through International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme as a “strong foundation to take the country towards a transformative era”, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has said when he met the visiting IMF team on Thursday (17).

An IMF delegation is in Sri Lanka for the seventh review of the country’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme and the 2026 Article IV Consultation.

“President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said recent economic indicators clearly demonstrate that the Sri Lankan economy has now entered a path towards stability, and that the government’s objective is to use this stability as a strong foundation to take the country towards a transformative era,” the President’s Media Division (PMD) said in a statement.

“The President also emphasised that the government’s objective was to use the economic gains achieved by the country to ease and improve the living standards of the people.”

IMF Mission Chief Evan Papageorgiou at the meeting commended the country’s progress in maintaining fiscal discipline during the recent period, including increasing government revenue and attracting foreign investment, the PMD said.

“He further highlighted the importance of ensuring that the economic stability achieved so far is maintained when moving towards 2027 and beyond.”

The difficulties faced by the public due to increased energy costs arising from the conflict in the Middle East were also discussed during the meeting.

Under the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility program, Sri Lanka has achieved crucial macroeconomic stabilization.

The positive outcomes include a rebound in foreign exchange reserves, lowered inflation, a stabilized currency, and the gradual resumption of economic growth alongside sovereign debt restructuring.

However, these structural adjustments have come at a severe social cost for ordinary citizens.

To meet stringent fiscal revenue targets, the government implemented aggressive tax measures, including an expanded Value Added Tax (VAT) rate and broadened personal income taxes.

In the absence of a fully operational and adequate social safety net, these measures have severely eroded real household incomes amid rising poverty level.

Although the government introduced the Aswesuma welfare scheme to replace older assistance programs, administrative delays, targeting errors, and coverage gaps have left millions of low- and middle-income families unprotected.

As elevated indirect taxes drive up the cost of food, utility tariffs, and basic consumer goods, vulnerable populations face rising living costs with limited social protection, exposing the stark trade-off between strict fiscal consolidation and social equity. (Colombo/September 17/2026)

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Ministerial Consultative Committee on Energy Affairs has approved the decision to call investment proposals to explore and develop petroleum resources in the country, the island nation’s parliament said on Thursday.

Last month, Sri Lanka offered four offshore blocks in the Northwestern Mannar Basin for international investors to explore oil and gas in a fresh attempt to attract investments into the sector after an earlier attempt ended unsuccessfully because production was not commercially viable.

The Mannar Basin, which lies between southern India and northwestern Sri Lanka, may hold around $260 billion worth of oil and gas resources, A Sri Lanka’s former energy minister has told the parliament in 2021.

The latest attempt is the first under President Anura Kumara Dissanayake government to explore oil and gas in the area.

Based on seismic surveys, previous governments estimated that a 30,000 square kilometre area off the country’s north coast holds over one million barrels of oil resources.

The latest approval of the order by the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Energy will help formalize the relevant process.

“Under this order, any person seeking to explore or develop petroleum resources in one or more identified blocks is required to submit an investment proposal together with payment of the administrative fee specified in the relevant invitation for bids,” Parliament said in a statement.

Sri Lanka’s pursuit of offshore oil and gas exploration began in the late 1960s, initially focusing on shallow offshore areas in the Gulf of Mannar and the Cauvery Basin.

Early exploratory drilling yielded limited technical success until 2011, when Cairn Lanka, a subsidiary of Cairn India at that time, made a breakthrough by discovering significant natural gas accumulations in two offshore wells within the deep water Mannar Basin.

These discoveries established the presence of commercially viable natural gas and condensate deposits.

However, due to complex deep water extraction dynamics, a lack of domestic natural gas infrastructure, and global energy market shifts, commercial production failed to materialize, leading Cairn to exit the block in 2015.

Following years of stagnation, Sri Lanka modernized its regulatory setup by enacting the Petroleum Resources Act of 2021 and establishing the Petroleum Development Authority of Sri Lanka (PDASL) to manage exploration rights and update offshore acreage block maps.

To revitalize foreign investment and lower its heavy reliance on coal and oil imports, the country introduced new joint-study regulations and structured new licensing frameworks.

These efforts aim to attract international oil and gas majors to explore and commercialize the estimated hydrocarbon potential across its three major prospective sedimentary basins: the Mannar, Cauvery, and Lanka Basins. (Colombo/September 17/2026)

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s rupee closed at 331.50/90 to the US dollar in the spot market on Thursday, from 332.00/40 at open, while bond yields eased off, dealers said.

A bond maturing on 15.09.2027 closed at 9.90/10.05 percent.

A bond maturing on 15.09.2029 closed at 10.90/11.00 percent, down from 11.00/15 percent.

A bond maturing on 01.08.2030 closed at 11.30/40 percent, down from 11.45/50 percent.t.

A bond maturing on 01.02.2031 closed at 11.42/48 percent, down from 11.65/70 percent.

A bond maturing on 15.12.2032 closed at 11.70/80 percent.

A bond maturing on 01.11.2033 closed at 11.80/85 percent, down from 11.85/95 percent.

A bond maturing on 15.10.2034 closed at 12.00/15 percent, down from 12.10/20 percent. (Colombo/Sep17/2026)