Manufacturing activities continued to expand at a higher rate in August 2019, recording an index value of 56.6 which is an increase of 0.9 index points, compared to July 2019. This expansion in manufacturing PMI was mainly attributable to the increase in Production and New Orders, especially in manufacturing of food & beverages and textiles & wearing apparel sectors to meet the upcoming festive season demand. Further, Employment increased, yet at a slower rate, during the month of August especially with the increase in employment in food & beverages sector while, many respondents in the textile and apparel industry highlighted that the labour availability in the market was low.

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Land Price Index (LPI) for Colombo District, compiled by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), reached 132.2 during the 1st half of 2019, recording an increase of 13.6 per cent compared to the 1st half of 2018. The three sub-indices of LPI, namely Residential, Commercial and Industrial have contributed to this increase.

Industrial LPI recorded the highest year-on-year increase of 14.9 per cent while the Commercial LPI and Residential LPI increased by 13.2 per cent and 12.8 per cent, respectively. Meanwhile, the LPI increased by 5.1 per cent from 2nd half of 2018 to 1st half of 2019.

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