Category: Economy

Apr 04, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves were flat at 6. 7 billion US dollars in February 2011, helped by a 200 million dollar injection form the International Monetary Fund, though reserves measured in months of imports have fallen slightly. By February reserves measured in terms of imports had come down to 5.8 […]

Apr 02, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s inflation has started to pull ahead of dollar pegged Asia with consumer prices in March rising 8.6 percent from a year earlier, despite a fall in food prices as non-food prices inflated. In the month of March the food portion of Sri Lanka’s Colombo Consumers’ Price index fell […]

Mar 31, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exports surged 72. 4 percent in January 2011 to 813.4 million US dollars, helped by 121. 9 percent increase in apparel exports to 385.4 million US dollars, the Central Bank said. Consumer goods imports rose 35.6 percent to 316.7 million US dollars. Intermediate goods rose 15.7 percent while […]

Mar 31, 2011 (LBO) – Thirteen companies and representatives from two universities from Northern Ireland will visit Sri Lanka on a business mission from April 2-5, the British High Commission said. Most of the members of the Invest Northern Ireland delegation are new to Sri Lanka and are keen to develop long-term relationships in their […]

Mar 31, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economy grew 8. 6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010, up from 6. 1 percent a year earlier and also higher than the 8.0 percent estimated for the third quarter, the government’s statistics office said. The office said the economy grew 8. 0 percent during the full […]

Mar 31, 2011 (LBO) – Consumer prices in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo shot up 8. 6 percent in March 2011 from a year ago, the highest since January 2009, and up from 7.8 percent in February, the government’s statistics office said. However, according to the month-to-month change, prices fell 0.3 percent in March with the […]

Mar 30, 2011 (LBO) – Central banks in Sri Lanka and India are facing common challenges and are also saddled with responsibilities going beyond keeping prices and the economy stable, Reserve Bank of India governor Duvvuri Subbarao said. “Both of us have a wider mandate than is typical of central banks,” Subbarao said delivering an […]

Mar 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew eight percent in 2010, up from 3.5 percent the year before, the Department of Census & Statistics (DCS) said in a statement. The Department of Census & Statistics said the agriculture sector grew 7.0 percent in 2010, industry at 8.4 percent and services […]

Mar 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s per-capita income at market prices was estimated at 271, 259 rupees or 2,399 US dollars in 2010, up 14.7 percent in rupee terms or 16.6 percent in dollar terms from 2009, the government said. The Department of Census & Statistics (DCS) said in a statement Private Final Consumption […]

Mar 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s construction industry and housing market grew strongly in 2001 compared with the year before driven by infrastructure projects, resettlement after a war and increased borrowing. The construction sub sector of gross domestic product grew 9.3 percent in 2010 from a growth of 5.6 percent the previous year, the […]

Mar 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economy is estimated to have grown by 8. 1 percent rebounding from a slowdown a year earlier as the country benefitted from a peace dividend, Central Bank deputy governor Dharma Dheerasinghe said. “In January exports have grown 72 percent,” Dheerasinghe said. Imports had grown at a slower rate […]

Mar 28, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s 28. 1 percent credit growth in the 12 months to January 2011 “is not alarming” because it is growing from a low base following a credit crunch two years ago, but the trend is being watched, Central Bank governor Nivard Cabraal said. In 2009, Sri Lanka’s credit contracted […]