Category: Economy
IMF mission says delay in VAT law may postpone review
Sept 23, 2016 (LBO) – The IMF mission currently in Sri Lanka says they may have to postpone their review a bit if the proposed VAT legislation will get delayed in Parliament. The mission head Jaewoo Lee however told reporters in Colombo that it will not be necessary under the current environment. “On the submission of […]
ADB to give Sri Lanka USD24.2Mn for transport feasibility studies
Sep 23, 2016 (LBO) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will help Sri Lanka prepare studies and designs for new road, railway, and port projects to assure the islands transport system is ready to support economic growth in the medium term. “With 24.42 million US dollars in ADB technical assistance, the Road Development Authority will […]
‘s Financial Intel Unit signs MOU with Singapore authority
Sept 22, 2016 (LBO) – The Financial Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (FIU) has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office of Singapore (STRO) to facilitate exchange of information on money laundering and terrorist financing. The MOU has been entered into “within the framework of each […]
Sri Lanka nationwide inflation declines to 4.5-pct in Aug 2016
Sept 21, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s consumer prices as measured by National Consumer Price Index declined to 4.5 percent in August from the 5.8 percent reported a month earlier on an yearly basis, data from the state statistics office showed. In August 2016, the contribution to the inflation from food group and non-food group […]
US Pacific Command partners with Sri Lanka on oil spill management
Sept 21, 2016 (LBO) – Experts from the U.S. Pacific Command have provided training for disaster response counterparts from Sri Lanka and Maldives on responses to potential oil spills that could impact the local environment. Both civilian and military participants shared experiences from recent oil spill response efforts, with hands-on field exercises that included a […]
No liberalization of professionals under upcoming FTAs: Kelegama
Sept 20, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s bilateral free trade agreements that are currently being considered have no liberalization of professionals, a senior official confirmed. Sri Lanka is currently negotiating with India to deepen the existing Indo-Lanka FTA via Economic and Technology Cooperative Agreement (ETCA), and is talks with China and Singapore to sign bilateral […]
New Zealand pledges to develop milk production in Sri Lanka
Sep 20,2016 (LBO) – New Zealand says that it will extend its full assistance to develop the milk production sector in Sri Lanka, the finance ministry said in a statement. “New Zealand expects to provide Sri Lanka new technology, industry expertise and certain grants to enable the island to improve its milk production,” Grahame Morton, […]
Central Bank to introduce repo transactions on electronic platform
Sept 19, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank is considering introducing the repurchase and reverse repurchase transactions to the Bloomberg electronic bond trading platform. All primary dealers had joined this platform for government securities secondary market transactions starting from August, while commercial banks joined the platform from 15th September 2016. “All stakeholders have now […]
Sri Lanka GDP expands 2.6-pct in second quarter 2016
Sept 15, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economy expanded 2.6 percent in the second quarter of 2016 from a year earlier, led by services activities, the state statistics office said. The Gross Domestic Product of Sri Lanka for the second quarter of 2016 at constant price reportedly reached up to 2,130,240 million rupees against 2,075,805 […]
Sri Lanka to set up a special unit for economic development
Sep 14, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s cabinet has approved obtaining the assistance of the Mackenzie Institute of USA to set up a Central Programme Management Unit in Sri Lanka to aid with rapid development. “It is important to establish a separate unit to supervise and take corrective measures on development activities for achieving the […]
Sri Lanka revises VAT threshold for wholesale & retail trade
Sept 14, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s cabinet has approved a new draft bill revising the VAT liable threshold for wholesale and retail trade, a cabinet decision said. Under the new amendments, the threshold for VAT liability on wholesale or retail supply of goods has been revised to 12.5 million rupees for a quarter, or 50 […]
Sri Lanka budget deficit to be 4.7-pct in 2017, FinMin tells IMF
Sep 14, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister said that the island plans on reducing the budget deficit to 4.7 percent in 2017. “We had a budget deficit of 6.7 percent of the GDP last year and this year’s target will be 5.4 percent. it will be further reduced to 4.7 percent in 2017,” […]