Author: lbostgadmin
Finance Minister aims to increase annual aid from IMF, WB
Oct 05, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake who left the island to attend the 2015 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the IMF is currently aiming at increasing annual aid to Sri Lanka.Sri Lanka receives long term aid of 400 million US Dollars annually from these two institutions, the Finance […]
Sampath Bank to raise Rs7bn from listed debenture
Oct 05, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s commercial bank sector player Sampath Bank is to raise 7.0 billion rupees from a listed debenture issue, the bank said in a stock exchange filing. Sampath Bank has decided to issue 50 million debentures at 100 rupees each with an option, to issue up to a further 20 […]
Sri Lanka’s LAUGFS acquires USD6mn LPG ship
Oct 05, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s LAUGFS Maritime Services, a logistic arm of LAUGFS Gas PLC, said it acquired their second LPG ship to provide logistic support for the growing LPG demand in the country. This second acquisition was made with a total expected investment of USD 6 million, is named as MT ”Gas […]
Analysis: Sri Lanka foreign reserve dilemma hinges on Central Bank objectives
Oct 05, 2015 (LBO) – Acting quicker than it did in early 2012, the decision by Sri Lanka’s Central Bank to give up defending the rupee in September of this year bodes well for a quicker recovery of foreign exchange reserves. But enamored with an additional objective of economic development, that goes beyond financial and […]
Opinion: Consuming GMOs is least of our problems
Oct 04, 2015 (LBO) – For a sector so essential to Sri Lanka, it seems the public understanding of agriculture is rather poor. This may be why we have lagged behind other Asian countries in terms of crop productivity. One sign of this — almost all vegetable seeds are now imported. Agriculture experts have watched […]
Sri Lanka’s proposed finance bill discourages private sector investment: CCC
Oct 05, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Finance Bill of March 2015 sends negative signal to the private sector and discourages investment, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) said in a statement, Sunday. “ The CCC believes that the Finance Bill of March 2015, presented to Parliament recently sends a negative signal to the private […]
Central Bank to sell USD 75mn worth of development bonds
Oct 05, 2015 (LBO) – The Central Bank will issue 75 million US dollars of development bonds of one year, three years and three months, and four years and eight months to local and foreign investors.The Debt Department said the subscription will be at a rate of US dollar six month LIBOR plus a margin […]
Sri Lanka’s growth to increase to 5.6-pct in 2016: World Bank
Oct 05, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s growth is expected to increase to 5.6 percent in 2016 with the increase in state sector workers and disposable income, a World Bank report said. “In Sri Lanka growth is expected increase to 5.6 percent due to higher public sector wages and higher disposable incomes,” the report said. […]
Tourist arrivals up 36-pct driven by arrivals from India and China
Oct 04, 2015 (LBO) Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals rose to 143,374 visitors, up 35.9 percent in September 2015 from a year ago, a statement said.Arrivals for the nine months to September were up 17.1 percent to 1,315,839 from a year ago, the latest tourism data shows. In September India arrivals rose 41.5 percent to 27,233 while Chinese […]
Sri Lanka increases excise duty on cigarettes and liquor: Finance Ministry
Oct 03, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka government has increased the excise duty on cigarettes and liquor with effect from Saturday (03), the ministry of finance said in a release.The Excise duty on Molasses and Coconut arrack has been increased by 110 rupees from 1485 rupees per proof liter. Accordingly the prices of a bottle […]
Sri Lanka calls for expat funds in Swiss accounts: Ravi K
Oct 02, 2015 (LBO) – The government encourages Sri Lankan expats to bring back undeclared funds in Switzerland, with no questions asked, the Finance Minister said. “There are about 10 to 15 billion dollars held outside the country. We are inviting Sri Lankan expatriates to bring their money and we can offer a considerable interest […]
Sri Lanka slaps 100-pct margin on car LCs: Finance Minister
Oct 02, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will impose a 100 percent margin deposit on car import LCs with effect from today, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake told at a media briefing held in Colombo.According to data Sri Lanka’s expenses on vehicle imports has doubled to 744 million US dollars for year 2015 compared to 374 […]