May Day

April 29, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka's main private sector retirement fund has made billions real losses in in 2007 as the state used the monetary system to inflate away debt at the expense of the private sector workers in the country, the latest data shows. The Wall Street Journal this week slammed the Fed for cutting rates to help Wall Street and steal from ordinary US citizen that save and also the world's poor in the form of higher food prices.

"This is a direct tax on both the world's poor and America's middle class," the Wall Street Journal said.

"In its attempt to help Wall Street and the financial system, Fed policy is punishing average Americans.

"Inflation is the thief of the thrifty middle class."

Updated In 2007, Sri Lanka's main private sector retirement fund, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) lost 23 billion rupees in real terms as inflation shot up and interest rates lagged behind.

Inflation measured by the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) was 16.5 percent in 2007, against an effective rate of return declared to members of the EPF of 11.40 percent indicating a real loss of 5.00 percent for the year, according to information disclosed in the 2007 annual report of the Central Bank, which manages the fund. <