www.combank.lk

1. Economic Capsule
April 2017
Research & Development Unit
244th Issue

2. C O N T E N T S
ECONOMY & BUSINESS 
 Sri Lanka raises USD 1.5 bn for 10 years
 ADB doubles lending to Sri Lanka
 Tourism sector performance 2016
 Telecommunications, computer and information Services sector performance 2016
 External sector performance 2016
 Fiscal sector performance 2016
 Banking Sector Performance 2016
 LFCs/SLCs Sector Performance 2016
 Vehicle registrations rebound in March
INTERNATIONAL
BANKING & FINANCE
 Commercial Bank offers ‘FLEXI Plan’ instalment schemes for high value Credit Card purchases
 Commercial Bank’s ‘e-Passbook’ wins Gold in Mumbai
 Euro steady after Macron wins French presidency
 The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data

3. Condominium Industry
in Sri Lanka
October, 2014
Research & Development Unit
Banking & Finance

4. Commercial Bank offers ‘FLEXI Plan’ instalment
schemes for high value Credit Card purchases
< Research & Development Unit >
Commercial Bank now offers ‘FLEXI Plan’ – an easy
payment scheme for Credit Card holders who have
been unable to convert their high value transactions
into easy payment plans at the point of purchase.
Any Credit Card transaction above Rs 25,000 may now
be converted to an equated monthly instalment plan
within a month of the transaction, at a nominal
processing fee.
• Intended to ease the repayment burden on cardholders, the Commercial Bank
FLEXI Plan is designed for the purchase of air tickets, electrical appliances and
consumer products or for the payment of educational or medical bills.

5. < Research & Development Unit >
Commercial Bank’s ‘e-Passbook’ wins Gold in
Mumbai
One year after it was launched, Commercial
Bank’s ground-breaking mobile app
‘e-Passbook’ has won a prestigious
international award for design, creativity and
innovation.
The app received the Gold for ‘Most Admired
Customer Engaged Mobile App’ at the 6th
Asia Pacific Customer Engagement Awards
presented by the Asian Customer
Engagement Forum (ACEF)in Mumbai, India.

6. Condominium Industry
in Sri Lanka
October, 2014
Research & Development Unit
Economy & Business

7. Sri Lanka raises USD 1.5 bn for 10 years
< Research & Development Unit >
Amount USD 1,500 mn
Period 10 years
Interest Rate 6.2 %
Ratings Moody’s - B1
S&P - B+
Fitch - B+
Joint Lead Managers/Bookrunners
Citigroup, CITIC CLSA Securities, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, ICBC
International, J.P. Morgan and Standard Chartered Bank
Final Order Excess of USD 11 bn (from 500 participating accounts )
Oversubscribed by Over 7 times
Allocation of the bonds 58% (USA), 22% (Europe) & 20% (Asia)
CBSL Press Release

8. ADB doubles lending to Sri Lanka
< Research & Development Unit >
 As promised by Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Takehiko Nakao during his
visit to Sri Lanka last year, the bank has confirmed that it has doubled its lending
capacity to USD 800 mn this year.
 “We have just doubled the lending. This is the highest we have allocated to the
country,” ADB South Asia Department Director General Hun Kim said at a media
briefing held on the sidelines of the 50th ADB Annual Meeting in Yokohama, Japan.
 As far as infrastructure development was concerned, he said that Sri Lanka was a good
example of high-quality infrastructure in the South Asian region, saying it was time
that the country scaled up to advanced infrastructure development projects.
 However, he pointed out that transportation remained a key challenge in Sri Lanka’s
development process, asserting that ADB was currently collaborating with the Sri
Lankan Government on developing a railway master plan, which is scheduled to
commence next year with a funding facility of over USD 1 bn.

9. Tourism sector performance 2016
< Research & Development Unit >
2015 2016
Y-o-Y
Chg. (%) 2016
Tourist Arrivals (No.) 1,798,380 2,050,832  14.0
Arrivals by Purpose of Visit
Pleasure 1,198,240 1,710,027  42.7
Business 23,323 37,121  59.2
Other 576,817 303,684 -47.4
Tourist Guest Nights (‘000) 18,163 20,918  15.2
Room Occupancy Rate (%) 74.5 74.8  0.4
Gross Tourist Receipts (Rs. mn) 405,492 512,373  26.4
Per Capita Tourist Receipts (Rs.) 225,476 249,837  10.8
Total Employment (No.) 319,436 335,659  5.1
Source: CBSL Annual Report 2016
Tourist arrivals up
17.5% in April 2017
• Tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka
rose 17.5 % to 160,249 in
April, after falling in the
previous two months, with
growth in the islands larger
generating markets China and
India slowing.
• Arrivals in the first four
months to April were up
6.1 % to 765,202 compared
to 721,185 in the same
period last year, despite
partial closure of the
international airport.

10. Telecommunications, computer and
information Services sector performance 2016
< Research & Development Unit >
2016
USD Mn
2016
YoY Chg.
(%)
Telecommunications, computer and information services 858  6.6
Telecommunications 134  4.7
Computer and information services 724  7.0
The growth in this sector was mainly driven by;
Rapid expansion of Software and Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) that
includes Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO).
Source: CBSL Annual Report 2016

11. External sector performance 2016
< Research & Development Unit >
SL’s Composition of Exports - 2016 SL’s Composition of Imports - 2016
SL’s Exports by Destination - 2016 SL’s Imports by Origin - 2016
Source: CBSL Annual Report 2016

12. Fiscal sector performance 2016
Government Debt (as a % of GDP)Composition of Government Revenue - 2016
Composition of Government Recurrent Expenditure - 2016 Deficit Financing (as a percentage of GDP)
< Research & Development Unit > Cont..
Source: CBSL Annual Report 2016

13. Fiscal sector performance 2016 (cont..)
< Research & Development Unit >
Outstanding Central Government Debt Government Debt Service Payments
(as a percentage of GDP)
Source: CBSL Annual Report 2016

14. Banking Sector Performance 2016
< Research & Development Unit >
NPLs of the Banking Sector
Credit Exposure of the Banking Sector (as at end 2016)
Profitability Indicators of the Banking Sector Capital Adequacy of the Banking Sector
Source: CBSL Annual Report 2016

15. LFCs/SLCs Sector Performance 2016
< Research & Development Unit >
Product wise Loans & Advances of the LFCs/SLCs Sector
Non-Performing Loans
Profitability Indicators of the LFCs/SLCs Sector
Source: CBSL Annual Report 2016
*LFCs – Licensed Finance Companies, SLCs - Specialized Leasing Companies

16. Vehicle registrations rebound in March
< Research & Development Unit >
• Motor car registrations recorded 2,961 units
significantly up from 2,148 in Feb and marginally up
from 2,901 units 12 months ago.
• Brand New: In the brand new segment total
registrations recorded 936 units up from 786 units
the previous month and 1,186 units 12 months ago.
• Market leader Maruti recorded 218 units up from
213 units the previous month.
• Pre-owned: In the pre-owned segment registrations
were 2,025 units significantly up from 1,362 units
the previous month but down from 2,140 units 12
months ago.
• The largest contributors to the growth were from
Toyota increasing its numbers from 727 units, month
ago to 1,015 in March 2017. Source: JB Securities

17. Condominium Industry
in Sri Lanka
October, 2014
Research & Development Unit
International

18. Euro steady after Macron wins French
presidency
< Research & Development Unit >
The euro hit a six-month dollar high before falling back as markets
reacted to Emmanuel Macron's victory in France's presidential
election.
The euro jumped to $1.1024 at one point before slipping back to
$1.098.
Investors had widely expected pro-EU centrist Mr Macron to beat
far right nationalist Marine Le Pen.
He has proposed cutting corporation tax and changing the labour
market, but there are concerns about his ability to get his plans
implemented.
As an independent, Mr Macron does not have representatives in
parliament. He founded his own party, En Marche!, and hence
currently has no elected representatives to push through his
plans. This means the parliamentary elections scheduled for 11
and 18 June will have significant implications for his future
prospects.
With virtually all votes counted, Macron had
topped 66 % against just under 34 % for Le Pen
- a gap wider than the 20 or so percentage
points that pre-election surveys had suggested.

19. The world’s most valuable resource is no
longer oil, but data
< Research & Development Unit >
A new commodity spawns a lucrative, fast-growing
industry, prompting antitrust regulators to step in to
restrain those who control its flow.
A century ago, the resource in question was oil.
Now similar concerns are being raised by the giants
that deal in data, the oil of the digital era.
These titans—Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Amazon, Apple, Facebook and
Microsoft—look unstoppable.
They are the five most valuable listed firms in the world.
Their profits are surging: they collectively racked up over $25bn in net profit in the first
quarter of 2017. Amazon captures half of all dollars spent online in America. Google and
Facebook accounted for almost all the revenue growth in digital advertising in America last
year. Source: The Economist
Full Article

20. The views expressed in Economic Capsule are not necessarily those of the Management of Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC
The information contained in this presentation has been drawn from sources that we believe to be reliable. However, while we have taken reasonable care to maintain accuracy/completeness of the information,
it should be noted that Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC and/or its employees should not be held responsible, for providing the information or for losses or damages, financial or otherwise, suffered in consequence
of using such information for whatever purpose.
< Research & Development Unit >
INDECISION is caused by one thing,