Category: Economy
Reserve Bank of India agrees to provide USD400mn SWAP to Central Bank
Jan 09, 2019 (LBO) – Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has agreed to provide 400 million US dollars to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka under its SAARC SWAP facility which will boost the reserves in the country. Sri Lanka’s Central Bank said in a statement that they have also requested a further bilateral SWAP […]
Recent rupee depreciation aligned with capital outflows not current account
Jan 08, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Governor says that the rupee depreciation is no longer aligned with fundamentals in terms of current account flows and it is now being driven by capital outflows from the government securities market.Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy recently revealed that foreigners who held about two billion US dollars worth […]
‘s Biz Chamber to host 2019 Outlook Seminar
Jan 07, 2019 (LBO) – The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce will organize its annual outlook seminar for 2019 under the theme of ‘Building Resilience Amidst Uncertainty’. The seminar serves as an important opportunity to understand both the outlook for the economy and key sectors in 2019. Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri […]
Sri Lanka Budget 2019: Targets public revenue to increase 17-pct, Debt to GDP down to 70-pct
Jan 07, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Finance Ministry says Budget 2019 will increase public revenue to 17 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while capital expenditure will be limited to 3.5 percent of GDP. It will also target maintaining the debt-to-GDP ratio to just 70 percent with recurrent expenditure cut down to 15 percent […]
Financial sector regulators sign MoU for consolidated risk-based supervision
Jan 04, 2019 (LBO) – The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) and the Insurance Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (IRCSL) on 31 December 2018 at CBSL, to conduct effective consolidated risk-based supervision and for CBSL to be the […]
Perpetual Treasuries suspension of business activities extended by 6 months
Jan 04, 2019 (LBO) – Monetary Board of the Central Bank has decided to extend the suspension of Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL) from carrying on the business activities of a Primary Dealer for a period of six months with effect from tomorrow.The Central Bank said the extension was carried out in terms of the Regulations made […]
LRT project to kick start in 2019 : Cabinet nod for Japanese aid of USD1850Mn
Jan 04, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Finance Ministry says that cabinet approval has been received to go ahead with US 1850 million dollar loan agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to commence initial work on the islands much anticipated LRT project. The ministry said that the loan, will be disbursed in six stages and […]
I think we are understating Sri Lanka’s GDP under new methodology: CB Governor
Jan 02, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Governor on Wednesday pointed out that the authorities need to look at carefully whether they are recording the GDP of the country accurately.According to Coomaraswamy’s own view, the growth in 2018 should be somewhere between 3.5 and 4 percent. “I don’t think this is a 3 […]
Sri Lanka to cut threshold for foreign investment in rupee denominated securities
Jan 02, 2019 (LBO) – Central Bank intends to reduce the threshold for foreign investment in rupee denominated Government securities from 10 percent of the outstanding Government securities stock at present to 5 percent. Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy, announcing the road map 2019 said this measure will be taken in view of the increased volatility in […]
Sri Lanka to complete IMF programme in 2019; reserves at USD6.9bn
Jan 02, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Governor remained optimistic that the staff level agreement reached in principle with the IMF on the fifth review will proceed to the next level with the successful completion of the IMF EFF programme this year. Announcing the monetary and financial sector policies for 2019, Governor Indrajit […]
Sri Lanka and Nepal to strengthen economic cooperation
Jan 02, 2018 (LBO) – The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Nepal, together with the Nepal- Sri Lanka Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized a programme on “Promotion of Economic relations between Sri Lanka and Nepal” at Hotel Radission in Kathmandu, recently. Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Nepal Swarna Perera and President of the Nepal- Sri […]
Sri Lanka inflation 2.8-pct in Dec 2018
Jan 01, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Colombo Consumer Price Index was down to 2.8 percent in December 2018 from 3.3 percent in November 2018, data shows. “The YoY inflation as measured by CCPI is 2.8 percent in December 2018 and inflation calculated for November was 3.3 percent,” the latest data from the Department of Census and Statistics […]