Category: Economy

May 21, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka former war-torn has shown the highest nominal growth among all regions (before inflation adjustment) after the end of a 30-year war and the momentum is expected to continue, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said. The war in the north ended in May 2009, but military activities in the […]

May 19, 2011 (LBO) – A top US central banker has suggested that the Federal Reserve drop ‘core inflation’, a sham index that has been used to deceive people for decades and fire economic bubbles by setting a deceptive target that understates actual price rises. Core inflation excludes prices of food and energy and represents […]

May 16, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said it is holding policy rates steady as last month’s hike in the reserve ratio was effective in draining excess liquidity and inflation was likely to fall from next month. Inflation, as measured by the year-on-year change in Colombo Consumers’ Price Index (CCPI) hit 9.8 percent […]

May 12, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government has created a new service within an already bloated public service to give jobs to 15,000 unemployed graduates and another 15,000 youth, a statement said. The Cabinet of ministers has approved a proposal to establish a ‘Sri Lanka Development Officers’ Service’ and a ‘Sri Lanka Development Assistants’ […]

BASEL, May 9, 2011 (AFP) – Central bankers are pressing advanced economies to gradually improve their budgets while fast growing emerging nations must guard against overheating, ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet said on Monday. The European Central Bank chief warned, after a regular gathering with other leading central banks, that there was no room for complacency […]

HANOI, May 4, 2011 (AFP) – Reducing corruption and improving government accountability are the greatest challenges to making Asia the world’s wealthiest region by 2050, the Asian Development Bank said Wednesday. The continent is undergoing a historic transformation, according to a study for the bank unveiled at its annual meeting in Vietnam. “If it continues […]

May 4, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s average price level measured by an index at the capital Colombo, has been steady since February though non-food items have taken up the slack created by falling food prices, an official statement said. In April prices rose 9.8 percent from a year earlier, despite food prices falling 1. […]

PARIS, 2011 (AFP) – The wrong approach to wiping out the mosquitoes that cause dengue infections could lead to worse epidemics in the future, according to a study released Tuesday. Targeting only mosquito larvae, and not adults, with insecticides may work in the short run, but could result in higher resistance in the insects and […]

Apr 30, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s smokers have coughed up 56 billion rupees in taxes collected through Ceylon Tobacco Company, a unit of British American Tobbacco which is equal to one percent of gross domestic product, the company said. Taxes rose by 3.7 percent or 7.0 percent from a year earlier. CTC chairman Jayampathy […]

Apr 29, 2011 (LBO) – Consumer prices in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo rose 9. 8 percent in April from a year earlier, accelerating from 8.6 percent in March, data from the government’s statistics office data showed. But excess liquidity remains close to 100 billion rupees, or about a third of the money officially defined monetary […]

WASHINGTON, April 27, 2011 (AFP) – His voice cracked and pinched. When necessary — most of the time — he retreated into policy jargon. With markets ready to pounce on any odd choice of words, US central bank chief Ben Bernanke was clearly nervous as he fielded reporters’ questions after a policy meeting for the […]

Apr 28, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka could attract investments from Vietnam if the path is clear and the two nations could increase two-way trade and tourism rapidly, Ton Sinh Thanh, Hanoi’s envoy heading a newly re-opened embassy in Colombo, said. FDI Vietnam itself is receiving tens of billions of dollars of investment from Japan, […]