www.combank.lk

1. Economic Capsule
January 2017
Research & Development Unit
241st Issue

2. C O N T E N T S
ECONOMY & BUSINESS 
 CPI base year revised
 Trademark registration bottlenecks block local brands going global - Verité Research
 GSP+: Gearing to reap its benefits amidst huge shortage of labour
 Hemas and GAC break ground for integrated logistics facility
 Ante LECO Smart metering declared open
 Central Expressway Project-2 commenced
 Finishing touches to Lotus Tower by 2018: TRCSL
 Jetwing launches newest star hotel in Colombo
INTERNATIONAL
 IMF World Economic Outlook Update 2017
 Britain's Brexit bill clears first legislative hurdle
 Federal Reserve upbeat on US economy as it holds rates
 What has President Trump done so far?

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

4. < Research & Development Unit >
CPI base year revised
• The Department of Census and Statistics has revised the
base year and the composition of the market basket of
the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) with effect
from January 2017 to reflect changes in the market.
• The Department revised the base year to 2013 from the
previous 2006/7 introduced in 2008, while increasing the
non-food composition to 72% of the market basket from
the earlier 59%.
 The CCPI (Base: 2013 =100) basket has more than
doubled the total consumption expenditure to
Rs. 60,364.73 from Rs. 27,972.11.
 New basket includes alcoholic beverages, tobacco
and narcotics as a new expenditure item.
 In the old basket Restaurants and Hotels was
included under the food group. But in the new basket
it is included as a separate group.
 Under the new index, the annual inflation rose to
5.5% in January, accelerating from the previous
month’s 4.5%.
CCPI - Colombo Consumer Price Index, NCPI - National Consumer Price Index
Core - Excluding Volatile Food, Energy and Transport

5. < Research & Development Unit >
Trademark registration bottlenecks block
local brands going global - Verité Research
• Delays in local trademark registration process could undermine the massive benefits
deriving from Sri Lanka’s decision to comply with the Madrid Protocol, according to Verité
Research.
• The Madrid Protocol administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
is a centralized global system for registering and maintaining trademarks in foreign
countries.
• Registering trademarks locally is an important first step for any company that seeks to register its brand abroad
to reap benefits from the global system. But it appears major bottlenecks exist within the local trademark
registration process. Verité Research revealed that the National Intellectual Property Office (NIPO) of Sri Lanka
takes approximately three to five years to process a trademark registration application, whereas the ideal
processing period should be no more than 18 months.
• When Sri Lanka’s position with regional peers is compared; Singapore processes applications within 8 -12
months, India and Pakistan within 12 plus months, and Bangladesh within 18 -24 months.
• With Sri Lanka still not being a signatory of the Madrid Protocol, to go global, companies are required to
register in each of their target markets with separate applications, making the process a time-consuming and a
costly exercise.

6. < Research & Development Unit >
GSP+: Gearing to reap its benefits amidst
huge shortage of labour
Looking at the apparel industry as it stands today there are important questions for which
answers have to be found if the industry is to reap the benefits from the decision to
reintroduce the GSP+.
• If the benefits are to come to Sri Lanka due to the reintroduction of the GSP+, the factories
must be geared to accept increased orders. Today, due to the lack of labour, factories are
operating below 65% efficiency.
• According to the Foreign Employment Ministry each month over 13,000 female workers seek
foreign jobs. This has compelled the factories to request the government to grant permission
to import labour from India and even China.
• The garment industry in Sri Lanka is highly labour intensive. It still remains basically a cutting
room-to-sewing machine operation. But other countries such as Hong Kong have gone digital.
This is one way of cutting costs and also increasing productivity. Faced with these adverse
conditions some factories have switched their operations to countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya,
Vietnam and even Nigeria. Labour in these countries are not disciplined at all and the factory
owners risk even their lives when operating in such environments. Cont…

7. < Research & Development Unit >
GSP+: Gearing to reap its benefits amidst huge
shortage of labour (cont..)
• Given the present situation whatever happens the big 15 stakeholders will survive.
• Virtually they perform the dual role of being the producer and the buyer also. Others are in a
serious dilemma. Are they geared to meet the increased demand? It must be remembered
that with the industrial revolution it was the textile industry that thrived first.
• But it is equally a fact that it was also the textile industry that faced the exit first. Countries
such as Britain, Germany and Japan are no longer depending on themselves for textiles and
they all import. Will history repeat itself?
By Cassian M. Fernando, Founder Chairman of the Chamber of Apparel Exporters

8. < Research & Development Unit >
Hemas and GAC break ground for
integrated logistics facility
Hemas together with the GAC Group
Sri Lanka are to build a modern integrated
logistics facility in the Muthurajawela
Industrial Zone, with a state-of-the-art
distribution centre, container yard and a
warehouse facility that spreads across
15 acres.
• The project is the first phase of a ‘Logistics City’ designed to provide the latest facilities
and higher levels of efficiency related to technology, transportation and logistics in the
process of national development by the Megapolis and Western Development
Ministry.
• The facility is expected to be in operation by early June 2017 and the Distribution
Centre will be operational in February 2018

9. < Research & Development Unit >
Ante LECO Smart metering declared open
• Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil
Wickramesinghe declared open a state
enterprise as a joint venture with a
Chinese company to produce electricity
metres for two state run power utilities.
• The factory, Ante LECO Metering Company
(Pvt) Ltd, is a 70 % subsidiary of Lanka
Electricity Company (Pvt) Ltd, Sri Lanka's
second grid operator. The joint venture
partner is Ante Metering Company Ltd of
China.
• The firm was set up in Bandaragama.

10. < Research & Development Unit >
Central Expressway Project-2 commenced
• The second stage of the construction of the Central
Expressway Project (CEP Project-2) from Meerigama
to Kurunegala was launched recently.
• The CEP- Project-2 covers from Meerigama to
Kurunegala completing a distance of 39.7 km.
• The first phase of the Central Expressway, from
Kadawatha to Meerigama, is now under
construction.
• The fourth stage covers from Kurunegala to
Dambulla - a distance of 60.3 km.
• The third stage covers from Pothuhera to
Galagedara – a distance of 32.5 km.

11. < Research & Development Unit >
Finishing touches to Lotus Tower by 2018: TRCSL
• With construction work of the Lotus Tower drawing to an end, the
finishing touches on the interior of the structure would be completed by
2018, according to the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of
Sri Lanka (TRCSL).
Jetwing launches newest star hotel in Colombo
• Jetwing Colombo Seven is the first city hotel to be built by Jetwing
in the cosmopolitan city of Colombo. The property consists of 80
deluxe rooms and 28 serviced apartments.
• Spread over 80 perches, Jetwing Colombo Seven, a five star city
hotel, houses a restaurant Fifty7, a rooftop bar Ward7 and an
infinity pool offering a panoramic view of Colombo.

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

13. IMF World Economic Outlook Update 2017
• After a lackluster outturn in 2016, economic activity is projected to pick up pace in
2017 and 2018, especially in emerging market and developing economies.
• However, there is a wide dispersion of possible outcomes around the projections,
given uncertainty surrounding the policy stance of the incoming U.S.
administration and its global ramifications. Cont…
Disclaimer: This presentation has been issued for the information of the customers of Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC only. The Bank and its employees do not accept any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the contents and any losses arising from any us of this material.
< Research & Development Unit >

14. IMF World Economic Outlook Update 2017 (cont..)
• The outlook for advanced economies has improved for 2017–18,
reflecting somewhat stronger activity in the second half of 2016 as well
as a projected fiscal stimulus in the United States.
• Growth prospects have marginally worsened for emerging market and
developing economies, where financial conditions have generally
tightened.
• Near-term growth prospects were revised up for China, due to expected
policy stimulus, but were revised down for a number of other large
economies most notably India, Brazil, and Mexico.
• The forecast is based on the assumption of a changing policy mix under a
new administration in the United States and its global spillovers.
Source: IMF World Economic Outlook (WEO) Update – January 2017
< Research & Development Unit >

15. < Research & Development Unit >
• Prime Minister Theresa May's plan to take
Britain out of the European Union easily
cleared its first legislative hurdle, paving the
way for the government to launch divorce talks
by the end of March.
• May's government is seeking approval for a
new law giving her the right to trigger Article
50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty - the legal process
for leaving the bloc - after the Supreme Court
ruled she could not take that decision
unilaterally.
• The bill could complete the legislative process
by March 7. May wants to begin exit
negotiations with the EU by March 31, starting
two years of talks that will define Britain's
economic and political future and test the unity
of the EU's 27 remaining members. (Reuters)
Britain's Brexit bill
clears first
legislative hurdle
Federal Reserve upbeat on US economy
as it holds rates
• The US central bank remained positive on the
economy, as it kept interest rates on hold in its
first meeting since President Donald Trump took
office.
• The Federal Reserve ruled unanimously to keep its
benchmark interest rate in a range of 0.5% to
0.75%.
• The jobs market and economic activity had
continued to strengthen, it said.
• The Fed had raised its benchmark interest rate by
0.25% in December, only the second increase in a
decade.
• President Trump has promised to boost growth
through tax cuts, spending and deregulation,
raising the prospect of higher inflation. (BBC)

16. < Research & Development Unit >
Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act Pending Repeal
Withdrew the United States from the Trans Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation
trade deal
Renegotiate existing trade agreements including the North American Free
Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
Expediting environmental reviews and approvals for high-profile
infrastructure projects
Streamlining Permitting and Reducing Regulatory Burdens for Domestic
Manufacturing
Cut the number of regulations affecting US businesses.
A "very major" border tax on companies that move jobs outside the U.S.
What has President Trump done so far?
Cont…

17. < Research & Development Unit >
 Freeze on federal hiring other than for military, public safety and public
health jobs.
 Pharmaceutical executives told to cut drug prices
 Beginning construction on a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.
Trump has said Mexico will pay for the wall, and he would get
reimbursement after building the wall with federal funds.
 Suspend the entry of any immigrants from Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq,
Iran, Libya and Yemen while permanent rules are studied.
 Tough action toward the roughly 11 mn illegal immigrants already in the
US, mostly from Latin America, whom he already has threatened to
deport.
What has President Trump done so far? (cont…)
Cont…

18. < Research & Development Unit >
 Plan to Defeat the Islamic State of
Iraq and Syria. This memorandum
calls for the Secretary of Defense, in
consultation with other national
security officials, to develop a plan
within 30 days to defeat the Islamic
State.
What has President Trump done so far? (cont…)
 Trump's so-called "one in, two out" executive order would require
agencies to rescind two existing regulations for every one new regulation
— and that the regulatory costs of those new regulations balance out.

19. 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 >