Attention of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has been drawn to recent media reports and the corporate disclosure to the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) by East West Properties PLC, the parent company of Weligama Hotel Properties Limited (WHPL).

The Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) Department received a letter from the Chairman of WHPL in June 2018 to sell its stake in WHPL to HPL Properties Group. Subsequently, the EPF Department held several discussions with WHPL in this regard. Accordingly, the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has decided to obtain a valuation of EPF’s equity stake in WHPL and the above valuation process is currently in progress.

A comprehensive valuation would be essential to determine the value of EPF’s stake in WHPL prior to divesting, in order to ensure an adequate return to the Fund to maximize the benefits for its members. Therefore, the EPF wishes to reiterate that it has taken necessary measures to obtain a valuation.

The Manufacturing Sector PMI decreased to 57.2 index points in July 2018 from 57.6 index points observed in the previous month. The marginal slowdown observed in manufacturing activities in July was mainly driven by slowdown in employment due to the difficulties in replacing unskilled employees to account for high labour turnover especially in the Food and Beverages, and Textiles and Apparel sectors. Moreover, new orders in July 2018 slightly slowed down. However, production and stock of purchases show some improvement, especially in manufacturing of chemicals and pharmaceutical products with the expected positive outlook for the next three months. Meanwhile, lengthening of suppliers’ delivery time usually indicates that economy is booming with expanding activities in the short run. However, in this instance, suppliers’ delivery time lengthened due to scarcity of raw materials in the world market and unfavourable weather conditions. Thus, it does not indicate an expansion in economic activities.