Author: lbostgadmin
Cutting Red Tape – Budget Update1
Finance Minister K N Choksy officially said the economy contracted by 1.3 percent during 2001. rnrnHe outlined a range of measures that the government plans to streamline in its quest for revive the economy. rnA new Commissioner General is to be appointed to contain defence expenditure, which currently accounts for 20 percent of the total […]
Ticked Off — Budget Update 4
The budget proposals today scrapped the 20 percent surcharge levied on corporate taxation and raised the tax exempt personal income to Rs. 240,000 per annum from Rs. 144,000.
Waging Another Battle
Finance Minister K N Choksy plans to enact fresh legislations to lure tax evaders.The law, he said, will not place a premium on tax evasion nor is it a form of tax amnesty. rnTax dodgers can park their monies in specified development areas like agriculture, industry or utility services; or in treasury bonds or in […]
New Paint — Budget Update 3
Finance Minister K N Choksy told parliament that the bonds will be issued in both rupee and US dollar denominations. rnrnDollar denominated bonds will be limited to non-resident Sri Lankans, while the local investors will be able to invest in the rupee bond with tax-exemptions on interest. rnrnChoksy estimated total government borrowing budgeted for 2002 […]
Moving On
The reversal comes after the bank raised the reverse repo rate by 10 basis points on Thursday in line with the bank quote s new policy of making regular changes to its key discount rates, to make it more responsive to market developments. rnThe bank on Wednesday cut rates by 50 basis points, lowering the […]
Shifting Direction
The Central Bank revised its short term discount rate today by raising the reverse repurchase rate (reverse repo) to 13.6 percent, from 13.5 percent.
Plugging The Hole
Tittawelle in his presentation about the role of the government at the financial reforms forum today, identified public service reforms and pension reforms as other key initiatives to bridge the fiscal deficit. rnrnContinues trend of budget deficits recorded during the past two decades has resulted in the mammoth public debt, which has a significant crowding […]
Jeremy Here
Carter was in the island early last month to carry out a review of the government fiscal performance that will lead to the release of the next US$ 30 mn tranche. rnrnThe fund would release the funds after checking the budget due this Friday for the reforms mutually agreed between the government and IMF. rnrnDr. […]
Paskiquote s Theories
High non-performing loans of Bank of Ceylon quote s and Peoples Bank were highlighted as the cause for the high intervention cost in the local financial sector, at the Financial Reforms forum that ended today. rnrnldblquote Banking supervision could have been more forceful on state banks to control their lending to dubious projects dblquote , […]
MICE Hunt
Driven by the belief that Sri Lanka can offer more than just leisure tourism, hard driven efforts are underway to harness the business community in attracting high spending corporate tourists. rnrnldblquote We need a collective effort from various industry sectors to go out and actively bid for Sri Lanka to handle regional and international conferences […]
Thinks Of Us
Forex licences are currently limited to licensed commercial banks and money brokers. rnrnFinancial Institutes like DFI quote s are currently barred from carrying out trade financing activities due to the lack of a forex licence. rnrnldblquote There is no reason why the commercial banks should be the only forex dealers. Licenses should be broad based […]
Wobble Start
The rupee wobbled sharply against the US dollar, following Central Bank quote s decision to cut its key short-term rates by 50 basis points this morning.