Category: Economy

June 12, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will get 1.4 billion US dollars from the Asian Development Bank over the next four years to finance health, sanitation education and energy, officials said.In 2014 ADB is expected to disburse 406 million US dollars for ongoing projects. “ADB remains active in Sri Lanka and we want to […]

June 11, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka may be more vulnerable to foreign debt than generally believed, amid rising foreign borrowings by both the state, state enterprises and also private entities, economists have said.Harsha de Silva, an economist and legislator said when parameters developed by UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific […]

June 06, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s loans to business expanded 7.6 billion rupees in March 2014, ending two months of contraction, while borrowings by the central government surged, official data showed.Sri Lanka’s fiscal transparency had major setback from the first quarter of last year after the state stopped releasing month revenue and expenditure numbers, […]

June 4, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has hiked import levies on milk powder by 56 percent keeping prices high while world prices continue to fall, giving more revenue to the state.Amid competition cement prices however came down as clinker prices fell, and is now being retailed 15 to 20 rupees below the government mandated […]

June 03, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has seen weak demand for chicken in 2013 a top poultry firm while costs were elevated, a poultry firm said, as the country emerged from a balance of payments crisis and steep currency depreciation. However the price of eggs had now risen from 11 rupees to 15 rupees […]

June 03, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s public sector officials had been given a grant of 215 million yen (245 million rupees) in scholarships to follow Masters’ programs in Japan, the finance ministry said.The Japanese Grant Aid for Human Resources Development Scholarship Programme (JDS) was started in 2010 is aimed at building capacity in executive […]

June 02, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s foreign remittances is expected to peak in 2017 with those seeking employment abroad beginning to decrease, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal has said. “We believe that in time to come there will be a reverse migration that will take place in our country,” Cabraal was quoted in transcript […]

May 31, 2014 (LBO) – Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka, the island’s largest alcohol maker which was hit by tax hikes and incomes decimated from currency depreciation, reported a small increase in gross revenues in the March 2014 quarter. DCSL said revenues with taxes rose 1.8 percent to 12.9 billion rupees in the March 2014 […]

May 30, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka wants foreign investors to set up joint ventures where the output will be allowed to be sold to the domestic market, investment promotion minister Lakshman Abeywardena said, amid fears of new protectionism.When import duty protected industries expand, the state also loses tax revenues as taxes that would have […]

May 30, 2014 (LBO) – The outlook for Sri Lanka’s economy was positive with low inflation and stronger growth driven by exports, but the country should watch out for a slowdown in developed nations and a domestic drought, an International Monetary Fund official said.Todd Schneider, who headed mission for annual ‘Article IV’ consultations, said recent […]

May 30, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s consumer prices rose 3.2 percent in the year to May 2014, slowing from 4.9 percent in April, though prices rose 0.6 percent during the month, data from the state statistics office showed. As credit is weak the exchange is facing appreciation pressure, but the Central Bank has kept […]