A few showers may occur in Jaffna, Mannar, Anuradhapura and Matale districts.

Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in the Uva province and in Ampara and Batticaloa districts during the afternoon or night.
Fairly strong winds of about (30-40) kmph can be expected at times over Western slopes of the central hills and in Northern, North-central and North-western provinces and in Trincomalee and Hambantota districts.
The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.

Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya took part in a special community gathering titled “An Evening with Dr. Harini Amarasuriya” in Surrey, British Columbia, as part of her ongoing visit to Canada, the Prime Minister’s Officeannounced.

The event provided a valuable platform for religious leaders and members of the Sri Lankan-origin community in Canada to interact directly with the Prime Minister, fostering dialogue and strengthening diaspora relations.

Prime Minister Amarasuriya arrived in Canada on Tuesday to attend the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) Board of Governors Meeting in Vancouver.

Upon her arrival, she was warmly welcomed by senior officials from the Government of the Province of British Columbia, the Commonwealth of Learning, and the Sri Lanka High Commission in Ottawa, with support and coordination from Global Affairs Canada.

The Sri Lankan government has stepped up efforts to revitalize the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector with over Rs. 1 trillion in financial support, alongside a raft of measures aimed at improving the business environment and promoting long-term sustainability, according to the Ministry of Finance.

In 2024 alone, 163,279 SME loans amounting to more than Rs. 1 trillion were issued through 16 state and private banks. Of the total disbursed, around 51% went to the industrial sector, while agriculture and services accounted for 13%, official data reveals.

The Central Bank, recognizing the adverse impacts on SMEs in recent years, has instructed licensed commercial and specialized banks to extend further concessions to SME borrowers who engage in revival discussions by March 31, 2025. These concessions include interest relief and new lending. Additionally, the deadline for banks to formalize reschedulement agreements with eligible borrowers has been extended from June 15 to June 30, 2025.

To ensure a comprehensive support system, the government is also focusing on structural reforms and institutional support. A new Development Bank is in the pipeline to provide dedicated funding to SMEs and startups, potentially easing the burden of collateral requirements faced by small entrepreneurs when dealing with commercial banks.

The Ministry of Industry is expanding low-cost financial assistance through the Industrial Development Board (IDB), while also encouraging SMEs to utilize Business Development Services (BDS) for sustainable growth. Plans are underway to establish district-level Technical Service Centres to offer technical expertise and support.

Additionally, a Technology Development Fund is being created to aid SMEs in research and development. New voucher schemes are being introduced to help businesses access both BDS and R&D facilities.

On the international front, programmes such as the European Union’s “Accelerating Climate Smart and Inclusive Infrastructure in South Asia” (ACSIIS), under the EU Global Gateway Strategy, are helping bolster SME resilience, especially in emerging areas like green technology, ICT, and Agri-tech.

The Sri Lanka Export Excellence Initiative (SLEII) is another strategic push to improve export readiness among SMEs. It includes a Rs. 5 billion fund aimed at assisting firms with urgent investment and working capital needs.

The Ministry of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development has also set up an Advisory Committee to guide COVID-19 and crisis-affected SMEs. Plans are being considered to establish a dedicated Authority to streamline SME-related services and policy implementation.

With SMEs contributing 52% to Sri Lanka’s GDP and employing over 4.5 million people, the sector remains a critical engine of the economy. Despite challenges in accessing finance and technology, the government’s multi-pronged approach is aimed at fostering innovation, growth, and resilience among these vital enterprises.

The Sri Lankan government has introduced the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2025, in Parliament, aiming to reform and modernize the existing Companies Act No. 7 of 2007 to better align with international standards, particularly on corporate transparency and anti-money laundering efforts.

 While the move has been broadly welcomed, it has sparked controversy over its limited provisions on public access to beneficial ownership data.

Key amendments proposed in the bill include the introduction of a Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) register, a new treasury share regime for listed companies, and the legal recognition of single-shareholder companies.

These reforms are intended to boost transparency, strengthen compliance, and facilitate corporate flexibility. The treasury share provision will allow listed firms to repurchase their own shares, while the single-shareholder clause enables a company to be formed by a single individual or entity, including the Treasury Secretary.

A central feature of the bill is the requirement for companies to disclose their beneficial owners—individuals who ultimately control or benefit from a company’s operations. This measure is aimed at curbing financial crimes such as money laundering, terrorist financing, and tax evasion by exposing opaque corporate ownership structures. However, the bill only permits access to limited beneficial ownership data, such as full names and ownership nature, and solely upon request.

Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) has strongly opposed these limitations, arguing that the bill undermines the core objective of effective oversight. The organization filed a public interest petition in the Supreme Court on June 19, challenging the legality and adequacy of Clause 7 of the proposed amendments, which governs the BOI framework.

TISL asserts that anonymous and concealed corporate ownership can be exploited for illicit purposes, including transnational crime and political influence. It contends that establishing a publicly accessible, digitally integrated BOI register is a national security necessity and a vital tool for tackling corruption and illicit financial flows.

Although Sri Lanka’s Governance Action Plan 2025 and the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan 2025–2029 pledge to create a publicly accessible online BOI register, TISL argues the bill falls short of this commitment. Section 130A(6) requires the Registrar only to maintain a list, with no obligation to proactively publish it online or link it with other government databases.

Further, Section 130D restricts access to minimal data on an individual, request-driven basis, limiting the ability of law enforcement, journalists, and civil society to track illegal activities in real time.

TISL also warned that this restricted model contradicts international anti-corruption standards, including recommendations by the IMF’s 2023 Governance Diagnostic Assessment. The group emphasized that timely, transparent access to ownership data is essential for asset recovery, fraud detection, and prevention of illicit asset transfers.

 In its petition, TISL has asked the Supreme Court to rule that Clause 7 violates constitutional rights under Article 12(1) (equal protection of the law) and Article 14A (access to information), insisting that genuine transparency must include proactive, publicly available data in line with global norms.