All Blogs
Sri Lanka’s balance of payments records US$100 mn surplus
Mar. 15 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s balance of payments (BOP) has recorded a US$100 million surplus for the two-months to February, the Central Bank said Wednesday as it stayed pat on interest rates for the third straight month. Please click here to read Central Bank’s monetary policy statement for March -Mel Gunasekera: mel@ The overnight […]
‘s Central Bank stays pat on interest rates
Mar. 15 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Wednesday left its policy rates at current levels for the third straight months, as it expects the 25-basis point hike last December to put the brakes on money supply growth.In a statement, the bank said it left its overnight repurchase rate at 8.75 percent and the reverse […]
’s Jinxed
Mar. 15 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s parliament is due to take up the Companies Act within the next two months, after a delay of nearly 13 years. The draft bill, first prepared by a New Zealand consultant in 1994, will replace the present Companies Act of 1982, said Chanaka de Silva, Senior Partner of Nithya […]
Done Deal
Mar 15 (LBO) – The Treasury inked a deal with China National Machinery and Equipment Corporation on Wednesday, to build a US$ 455 million power plant in Norachcholai. Two decades overdue, the 300 megawatt plant as well as supporting infrastructure will be entirely funded by the Chinese government, Ranjith Fonseka, General Manager for the sole […]
‘s balance of payments records US$100 mn surplus
Mar. 15 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s balance of payments (BOP) has recorded a US$100 million surplus for the two-months to February, the Central Bank said Wednesday as it stayed pat on interest rates for the third straight month. Please click here to read Central Bank’s monetary policy statement for March -Mel Gunasekera: mel@ The overnight […]
Extra Support
Mar. 14 (LBO) – The International Finance Corp. said Tuesday that they have tied up with four Sri Lankan banks to increase access to finance small and medium enterprises (SME) in the island. IFC, the private sector lending arm of the World Bank, hopes the partnership with Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank of Ceylon, Hatton National […]
Safe Passage
Mar. 13 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will push for an open skies agreement with India, on the sidelines of trade talks in May to liberalise service sectors of both countries.Both sides are finalising positions for talks on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), with areas like shipping, tourism and financial services also making the list. […]
Digital Actuaries
Mar13. (LBO) — Sri Lanka’s accountants have come up with a digital solution to combat the shortage of actuaries in the country. The solution involves the use of a standard model, which uses minimal subjective judgments and can be calculated on a software like Microsoft’s Office Excell. The acute shortage of actuaries in Sri Lanka […]
Basic Pay
Mar13. (LBO) — Sri Lanka™s public sector unions are threatening a 24hour strike later this week as a dispute over a proposed pay hike continues.Essential health services will not be disrupted in the midnight-to-midnight 24 hour strike scheduled to begin Mach 15. The consortium of trade unions joining forces to form the Public Sector Salary […]
Expensive Chat
Mar. 13 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s two private wireless local loop telecom operators have been called up to pay around Rs. 400 million as duties for importing handsets, industry officials said. Last month, the island’s Board of Investment (BOI) slapped a 33 percent import duty on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) handsets with immediate effect. […]