Category: Budget
Sri Lanka seeks budget balance between subsidies and development
Nov 07, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is seeking a balance between subsidies and development in a budget for 2008 to be presented today, as officials said planned capital spending had been sacrificed in 2007. “We are at a time when we need to present long-term answers to the problems of the country,” deputy finance […]
Sri Lanka leader says terrorism must be defeated to achieve peace
Nov 07, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse said Wednesday that Tamil Tiger separatist terrorism has to be defeated in order to achieve peace in the island.Sri Lanka has been left with a weak and unstable economy owing to 25 years of terrorism, poor infrastructure development and inadequate attention to developing the domestic […]
Sri Lankan ship owners win tax relief in budget
Nov 07, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka ship owners won a tax concession in the government’s budget for 2008 presented in parliament Wednesday by president and finance minister Mahinda Rajapakse. . Ship owners registering their vessels under the Sri Lankan flag will be exempt the Port and Airport Development Levy (PAL) and would not be […]
Sri Lanka government moves into shop keeping
Nov 07, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government which has been unable to provide adequate public goods such as roads, power or water to its people for years, is getting back into one of the most basic of businesses: shop keeping. “It is proposed to set up a State Trading Wholesale Establishment, which will be […]
Sri Lanka to lower fuel prices by taxing other goods
Nov 07, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said Wednesday that fuel prices will be maintained at current levels “temporarily” and revenue losses would be offset by higher levies on imported consumer goods. Due to a long-term policy of giving benefits to privileged classes of society based on muddled political thinking, Sri Lanka […]
Sri Lanka slaps tax on wireless fixed phones
Nov 07, 2007 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government Wednesday said it would extend a 10 percent tax on mobile phones to wireless CDMA phones in an effort to raise revenue. . The move was announced by President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is also finance minister, when he presented the government’s budget for 2008 in parliament. […]
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Nov 07, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan media groups Wednesday condemned government restrictions on private media covering the 2008 budget speech by President Mahinda Rajapakse in parliament.The Free Media Movement, speaking on behalf of several media groups, said in a statement that it was deeply concerned and condemned the ban on photo journalists covering the […]
India software exports head for 60-billion-dollar mark
BANGALORE, India, July 2, 2007 (AFP) – India’s exports of software and related services are expected to almost double in three years to 60 billion dollars, maintaining the country’s lead over rivals such as China, the industry said Monday.But the rupee’s strength and a shortage of talent are major concerns for an industry that posted […]
‘ fear that deemed dividend tax may hurt capital of Sri Lankan banks
Nov 21 (LBO) – A controversial tax to force Sri Lankan companies to pay dividends would undermine the health of the commercial banks by depleting their capital, a top banker has warned. The government is keen to push dividends in order to charge the dividend tax. But private sector officials point out that choice of […]
‘ parley for feeding a credit bubble, inflation
November 21 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s loose monetary policy came under fire at a gathering of top economists and business leaders in the country, with panelists slamming the Central Bank for pushing inflation up, creating a credit bubble and putting Sri Lanka’s balance of payments under pressure. Upside Down Though the economy was growing at […]
” banks after two year experiment
Nov 17, 2006 (LBO) – After creating two new state banks in successive budgets, Sri Lanka’s government is planning to merge and consolidate them with a network of existing rural banks. Sri Lanka already has two development banks, as well as medium term credit facilities that are channeled through commercial banks.The SME Bank was created […]
‘s record deficit
Nov 17, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is set to borrow heavily abroad and at home in a bid to finance a record 2.18 billion dollar budget deficit next year, official figures showed Friday. The overall budget deficit for 2007 was estimated at 7.2 percent of Gross Domestic Product while the government revised the 2006 […]