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Sri Lanka clearing VAT refunds backlog, govt revenue recovering: Treasury Secy
May 22, 2007 (LBO) – Government revenue is improving and the Inland Revenue Department hopes to clear most of the backlog in value added tax refunds in 3-4 months, Finance Ministry Secretary P.B. Jayasundera said Tuesday. “We’ve streamlined the VAT refunds process and closed some loopholes,” he told a seminar organized by the Sri Lanka […]
Central Bank of Sri Lanka steadfast on low inflation and economic stability: Governor
May 22, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank will diligently pursue its aim of economic and price stability and not finance the budget deficit with printed money, Governor Nivard Cabraal said. Quoting former Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Paul Volcker, he said the “truly unique power of a central bank is the power to create […]
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May 22, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will reach the June reserve money target ‘comfortably’ with interest rates at current levels, the Central Bank said in its May monetary policy review. Though reserve money increased in April from a higher demand for currency, the bank says it was able to meet an internal target for […]
New Port
May 21, 2007 (LBO) – Four investor groups have sent in bids to build the infrastructure and do the dredging for the Colombo Port Expansion Project, a new deep-water harbour next to Colombo. The new port will be designed to handle ships with a draft of 16 metres and as long as 400 metres. Sri […]
Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka continue to slide fighting escalates
May 21, 2007 (AFP) – The number of holidaymakers visiting Sri Lanka fell by nearly 20 percent in the first four months of this year as fighting between troops and Tamil rebels escalated, the tourism authority said Monday.Visitor numbers to Sri Lanka dropped to 167,674, down 19.9 percent over the corresponding period of last year. […]
At Last
May 21, 2007 (LBO) – Copies of Sri Lanka’s new Companies Act can now be downloaded from the Web and are available at the government publications bureau. A spokesman for the Registrar of Companies Department said the Companies Act No 7 of 2007, which came into affect on May 03, can be downloaded from their […]
Oil-rich Iran to ration petrol to get out of subsidy fiasco
TEHRAN, May 21, 2007 (AFP) – Oil-rich Iran is to delay a plan, scheduled to be implemented on Wednesday, to ration petrol and raise pump prices that is expected to have a profound impact on its economy, officials said.Iran has been unable to distribute sufficient rationing cards in time to consumers to execute the plan, […]
China makes equity investments from forex reserves
BEIJING, May 21, 2007 (AFP) – A new Chinese investment company charged with handling the nation’s bulging reserves has agreed to invest three billion dollars in US private equity company Blackstone, the American company said.Analysts have suggested that the new agency would start slowly while it refines its daily operations and so as not to […]
Kuwait cuts loose from sinking dollar
KUWAIT CITY, May 20, 2007 (AFP) – Kuwait on Sunday pegged its dinar to a basket of international currencies after more than four years of linking the local currency to the dollar, in a bid to reduce inflationary pressures.The oil-rich emirate had historically pegged the dinar to a basket of currencies before pegging it to […]
Oil exporting Iran prints enough money to drive inflation to 17%
TEHRAN, May 20, 2007 (AFP) – Iran’s inflation is set to rise to 17 percent this year with money supply growth continuing to soar, the central bank said on Sunday.A rate of 17 percent inflation in the Iranian year to March 20 would mark a 3.5 percentage point rise from the year earlier, amid rising […]