Category: Economy

July 20, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is seeing a peace dividend in the form of lower interest rates, taxes, inflation and higher capital expenditure after a 30-year war ended, Treasury secretary P B Jayasundera said. He said defence expenditure which was about 5.0 percent of gross domestic product during the war years, has now […]

July 19, 2011 (LBO) – Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has raised its outlook on Sri Lanka’s long-term foreign currency sovereign credit rating to positive from stable. “The outlook on the long-term local currency rating is stable. The transfer and convertibility (T&C) assessment is unchanged at ‘B+’,” a statement said. “We revised our outlook on […]

July 19, 2011 (LBO) – There is a “strong possibility” that Sri Lanka may not take the final tranche from the International Monetary Fund under a 2. 6 billion US dollar bailout program Fitch Ratings Asian Pacific director Art Woo said. IMF’s last review team decided to end quarterly reviews and move to 6-monthly reviews […]

July 18, 2011 (LBO) – Moody’s Investors Service, a rating agency has lifted the outlook on Sri Lanka’s below-investment-grade ‘B1’ credit, to ‘positive’ ahead of a billion dollars sovereign bond sale. Road shows for the bond have already started. The rating agency said the end of a long drawn out war which reduced political risk, […]

July 18, 2011 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has upgraded Sri Lanka’s long-term foreign and local sovereign ratings to ‘BB-‘ from ‘B+’ with stable outlooks for both. “In contrast, continued double-digit inflation or deterioration in political stability would put downward pressure on Sri Lanka’s ratings.” Fitch said Sri Lanka has also made some “important headway” in […]

July 13, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to revive an international export exhibition after 15 years to promote the island’s exports and attract foreign investments after the end of its 30-year ethnic war. The event is being organised by the Export Development Board responsible for promoting exports during March 28 – 30, 2012 at […]

July 12, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s northern province, which had been badly hit by war, had the highest rate of economic growth in 2010 as a post-war rebound continued, the central said. The north’s gross domestic product grew 22.0 percent last year, the bank said in an analysis of provincial GDP. The eastern province, […]

July 11, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exports rose 37 percent in April 2011 to 745. 7 million US dollars driven by a 41 percent gain in industrial exports to 574 million US dollars, while imports also rose 53 percent to 1.5 billion US dollars, the Central Bank said. Intermediate goods rose 34 percent to […]

July 10, 2011 (LBO) – Sedentary lifestyles and absence of regular health checks are making Sri Lanka’s workforce unhealthy with an alarming increase in early deaths that could have implications for economic growth, a media report said. “The war is over but Sri Lanka’s workforce is sitting on a fast-ticking time bomb,” the Sunday Times […]

July 08, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank held its policy rate at which excess money is withdrawn from the market at 7.0 percent in July saying credit growth was slowing and inflation would ease further. In June 12-month inflation fell to 7.1 percent from 8.1 percent in May, measured by the widely watched […]

July 07, 2011 (LBO) – China has committed 760 million US dollars of new loans in the first four month of 2011, topping Japan’s 413 million dollars in the same period, to reach top spot, official data showed. Sri Lanka’s total capital budget is financed from loans, as the country runs a deficit on the […]

SYDNEY, July 7, 2011 (AFP) – The soaring Australian dollar has turned the country’s four biggest cities into some of the most expensive locations in the world, according to a new global survey published Thursday. Sydney and Melbourne are now the sixth and seventh most expensive cities on the planet, the Economist Intelligence Unit’s biennial […]