Sri Lanka’s SEC Welcomes 2027 Budget for Incorporating SME Listing & Broadening Participation

Newswire and Lanka Business Online report that Sri Lanka’s Securities and Exchange Commission welcomed the Government’s 2027 budget after two SEC proposals were included: “A Share for Everyone” and an SME Listing Support Mechanism. Ada Derana also reports the SEC welcomed key proposals in the budget, but does not identify them.

Newswire and Lanka Business Online say the student initiative is intended for eligible Advanced Level students and would give them direct experience with capital-market investing. The SEC’s stated aims include raising financial literacy, encouraging long-term wealth creation and developing informed investment habits among young people. Newswire gives the programme’s guiding phrase as “Let’s Know, Let’s Learn, Let’s Invest.”

Newswire reports that the SME mechanism is designed to help small and medium-sized enterprises raise capital by listing on the stock market. The SEC says the scheme could support business growth, improve corporate governance and transparency, and give the public more investment choices. Newswire and Lanka Business Online report that the SEC views the proposals as steps toward deeper markets and broader participation.

Lanka Business Online reports that the SEC put forward the measures as part of its role advising the Government on securities-market development and helping implement its related policies. Newswire reports that SEC Chairman Senior Professor Hareendra Dissabandara welcomed their inclusion in a media release issued on November 13. Newswire also reports the SEC thanked President and Finance Minister Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Deputy Finance and Planning Minister Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando, Deputy Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Minister Chathuranga Abeysinghe, and Treasury Secretary Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma for their support and consideration of the proposals.

Newswire reports that the SEC plans to work with the Finance Ministry, the Colombo Stock Exchange, and education and industry stakeholders to carry the initiatives forward.