Category: Economy

July 02, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has signed up 678.2 million US dollars in foreign loans in the first four months of 2014 and Japan led the tables giving 342.8 million US dollars for a new bridge to the capital, official data showed. Outstanding foreign debt not counting rupee denominated Treasuries owned by foreigner […]

June 30, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka consumer prices rose 2.8 percent in the 12-months to June 2014 from a year earlier, slowing from 3.2 percent in May, the state statistics office said. Prices during the month rose sharply by 1.1 percent, the highest monthly gain in the Colombo Consumer Price Index seen since June […]

June 29, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s inflation would be 2.8 percent in June and the country now had strong economic growth and a stable exchange rate, Treasury Secretary P B Jayasundera said.Sri Lanka is recovering from a balance of payments crisis triggered in 2011 after the state manipulated energy prices with bank loans which […]

June 26, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Nippon Paint Lanka is pushing into the do-it-yourself market as weak spending power coupled with higher labour costs has led to a slump in demand, officials said. “As an industry we are not doing very well. This is not common to us but even the other companies face […]

June 25, 2014 (LBO) – A Macro Prudential Indicator for Sri Lanka which was downgraded to ‘3’, may be lifted in the future as risks recede, amid slower credit growth, a top Fitch Ratings official said.Mark Young head of Asia Pacific Financial Institutions at Fitch Ratings said with weaker credit growth there was room for […]

June 23, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s banking system is managing the risks of bad loans especially from gold-backed loans but high credit growth targets by some banks are a concern, a top Fitch Ratings official said.Bad loans in Sri Lanka’s banking system spiked after low interest rates up to 2011 set off a credit […]

June 21, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Communist Party recognized Vietnam’s claims to islands which are at a centre of a dispute with China a top official said, amid warnings that Sri Lanka could suffer the same fate from aggressive large nations. “As far as we are concerned we recognize the right of the Vietnamese […]

June 18, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should look at private partnerships to expand infrastructure, reform state enterprises and strengthen the investment climate by improving rule of law and governance, Asian Development Bank chief Takehiko Nakao said. Sri Lanka’s government is investing about 6 percent of gross domestic product in physical infrastructure which was higher […]

June 18, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank held policy interest rates at 6.5 and 8.0 percent but urged banks to narrow spreads by cutting lending rates, as credit growth continued to be slow.Deputy Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said Tuesday such market developments would help bring down interest rates to levels in line with deposit […]

June 17, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka credit growth will accelerate if longer term lending rates fall further, Deputy Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said.Sri Lanka’s inflation in the past 12-months have been in the lower single digits, though inflation spiked to near 10 percent in 2012, amid steep currency depreciation. Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal told […]

June 16, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economy grew 7.6 percent in the first quarter of 2014 from a year earlier despite the agriculture shrinking, estimates by the state statistics office showed. Agriculture, Livestock and forestry shrank 1.2 percent but helped by a 13.3 percent from fishing, the sector showed a 0.2 percent growth. Industry […]

June 14, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank has responded to recent warnings over rising foreign debt by the government and other entities. The Central Bank said its analysis was based on central government debt. It points out that excluding inflows such as remittances also does not present a correct picture. Even more than […]