Author: Gayan Chandrasekara
Sri Lanka expects to make certain amendments to Singapore FTA: President
Jan 25, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s President has discussed with the Prime Minister of Singapore that the Sri Lankan side is expecting to make certain amendments to the Free Trade Agreement signed between the two countries. President Maithripala Sirisena who is on a two-day official visit to Singapore held bilateral discussions with Prime Minister […]
5G & competition, key issues for Asia-Pacific Telco investors: Fitch Ratings
Jan 25, 2019 (LBO) – Credit investors in the Asia-Pacific telecommunications sector have key questions on telcos’ growth prospects amidst rising competition, the investment case for 5G, regulatory pressures, and the implications of these factors, Fitch’s Ratings said.Fitch has published a compendium of key questions received from investors and our views on each issue, following investor […]
Sri Lanka ready to create artificial rain for hydropower generation
Jan 23, 2019 (LBO) – Ceylon Electricity Board and Sri Lanka Air Force today signed a memorandum of understanding to facilitate the project of creating artificial rain for hydropower generation. The Air Force has agreed to provide aircraft modified especially for this purpose while the Thai government is providing technical expertise for the project. Rainmaking […]
Fitch-rated frontier markets saw 13 positive, 6 negative rating actions in 2018
Jan 21, 2019 (LBO) – Fitch-rated frontier markets saw more positive than negative sovereign rating actions in 2018 with 13 positive rating actions compared to six negative actions, Fitch Ratings said. Out of the 30 Fitch-rated frontier markets, the majority were outlook changes and the mix of upgrades and downgrades was balanced at four each. However, […]
IMF to visit Colombo in mid-Feb to resume program discussions: Christine Lagarde
Jan 16, 2019 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund remains ready to support the Sri Lankan authorities and an IMF team is scheduled to visit Colombo in mid-February to resume program discussions, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said. Managing Director of the IMF who met with Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Governor Indrajit […]
Democracy Index 2018: Sri Lanka ranking falls more than others in region after crisis
Jan 09, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s democracy ranking has fallen more than any other country in the region with a marked decrease in its score from 6.48 in 2017 to 6.19, driven by a worsening in the functioning of government and in civil liberties.The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index 2018 provides a snapshot of […]
Recent rupee depreciation aligned with capital outflows not current account
Jan 08, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Governor says that the rupee depreciation is no longer aligned with fundamentals in terms of current account flows and it is now being driven by capital outflows from the government securities market.Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy recently revealed that foreigners who held about two billion US dollars worth […]
I think we are understating Sri Lanka’s GDP under new methodology: CB Governor
Jan 02, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Governor on Wednesday pointed out that the authorities need to look at carefully whether they are recording the GDP of the country accurately.According to Coomaraswamy’s own view, the growth in 2018 should be somewhere between 3.5 and 4 percent. “I don’t think this is a 3 […]
Sri Lanka to complete IMF programme in 2019; reserves at USD6.9bn
Jan 02, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Governor remained optimistic that the staff level agreement reached in principle with the IMF on the fifth review will proceed to the next level with the successful completion of the IMF EFF programme this year. Announcing the monetary and financial sector policies for 2019, Governor Indrajit […]
First Capital increases equity exposure as global funds reversing towards Asia
Dec 28, 2018 (LBO) – First Capital Research has upgraded its equity exposure to 60 percent with the belief that the events that have unfolded globally may benefit Sri Lanka and the equity market over the next few months positively impacting earnings and possibly leading to net foreign inflows. Over the last 3 months, they […]
” amidst political crisis; outlook stable
Dec 04, 2018 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has downgraded Sri Lanka’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘B’ from ‘B+’, with a stable outlook. Fitch Ratings said the downgrade reflects heightened external refinancing risks, an uncertain policy outlook, and the risk of a slowdown in fiscal consolidation as a result of an ongoing political crisis. KEY […]
‘s Central Bank says Moody’s latest rating decision is unfounded
Nov 21, 2018 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank on Wednesday said that it is of the view that the decision by Moody’s to downgrade Sri Lanka’s foreign currency issuer and senior unsecured ratings from B1 (Negative) to B2 (Stable) does not properly reflect the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals, and therefore unwarranted. The Central Bank said […]