Category: Economy

May 13, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank is targeting average inflation to be around 6-7 percent and is expecting year end inflation at 7. 0 percent or below Central Bank governor Nivard Cabraal said. While the so-called ‘annual average inflation’, is a number averaged over two years and is difficult for ordinary people […]

May 11, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank kept its key policy rate unchanged at 9. 75 percent saying monetary conditions are tightening and credit growth will moderate, eventually helping the exchange rate. The March loan totals may include possible forex losses on dollar loans. “With respect to monetary developments, market interest rates have […]

May 11, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank its key policy rate unchanged at 9. 75 percent saying monetary conditions are tightening and credit growth will moderate. The full statement is reproduced below In April 2012, year-on-year inflation as measured by the CCPI (base=2006/2007) was 6.1 per cent while annual average inflation was 5. […]

May 08, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will work out a surveillance program with the International Monetary Fund to boost investor confidence after a current deal with the agency ends in July 2012, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said. “Thereafter the type of relationship we will have with them is something we will have will […]

May 07, 2012 (LBO) – Amid pressure from a parliamentary committee for remaining workers of state-enterprises to pay income taxes, finance ministry secretary P B Jayasundera has said all persons must get used to paying taxes. Jayasundera said even a person earning 200,000 a month only paid about 10 percent in tax and the average […]

May 4, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka on Friday raised prices of cooking gas, milk powder and cement, after a weak rupee, tax hike and higher energy prices raised costs. The price of a 12.5 kilo liquefied petroleum gas cylinder goes up by 350 rupees to 2,396 rupees from midnight Friday, Internal Trade Minister Johnston […]

May 04, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has to persist with reducing its budget gap and tighten monetary policy further if needed to ward off balance payments pressure, Fitch Ratings which confirmed a sovereign rating at ‘BB-‘ said. The outlook on the rating was ‘stable’. “The ratings reflect Fitch’s view that the authorities have taken […]

May 04, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exports grew 7. 6 percent from a year earlier to 878 million US dollars in February 2012 with tea exports falling and apparels barely growing, while imports powered ahead, official data showed. In the first two months of the year exports grew only 3. 3 percent to 1.79 […]

May 02, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will keep to a 6. 2 percent of gross domestic budget gap planned for 2012 despite higher than expected interest costs amid monetary tightening, Treasury secretary P B Jayasundera said. “We will strictly adhere to the 6. 2 budget deficit announced in 2012,” he told reporters Monday. “We […]

Apr 30, 2012 – (LBO) – Though the global economy is showing signs of improving, a slowing Europe and debt troubles which Sri Lanka and emerging Asia should watch, an International Monetary Fund official said. European fallouts could hurt emerging Asia through trade and financial channels, IMF’s resident representative Koshy Mathai said, at an economic […]

Apr 30, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka and India could face credit downgrade if oil prices rise further and energy subsidies are not reduced, Standard and Poor’s said in an Asia-Pacific report. “In India and Sri Lanka, we expect fuel and related subsidies to markedly worsen fiscal and external deficits unless subsidy levels fall,” Standard […]

Apr 30, 2012 (LBO) – Consumer prices in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo rose 6. 1 percent from a year earlier, accelerating from 5.1 percent in March, the state statistics office said. The index rose 0.6 percent in the month to 159.8. The food and non-alcoholic beverages component rose 1. 0 percent and non-food items rose […]