Category: Economy
‘s Fitch ratings summary as of October
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Sri Lanka foreign reserves drops USD154mn in Sept: Central Bank
Oct 08, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s official reserves dropped 153.8 million US dollars to 6.5 billion dollars in September, down from 6.6 billion dollars at the end of August, official Central Bank data showed. Foreign currency reserves were 5.4 billion US dollars, and reserves in Gold were 0.95 billion US dollars. The Central Bank’s […]
Sri Lanka to sign ETCA by end 2016: PM at India Economic Summit
Oct 07, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka expects to sign the Economic and Technology Co-operation Agreement (ETCA) with India by the end of this year, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said. Addressing the India Economic Summit 2016, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said it will help Sri Lanka to strengthen economic ties. “The proposed ETCA will be signed […]
Central Bank, immigration office to tackle money laundering
Oct 06, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank has joined with the immigration office to receive information in order to facilitate investigations and prosecutions on money laundering and terrorist financing. The bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit recently entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Immigration and Emigration Department in this regard in terms of […]
Sri Lanka’s growth will be below average for South Asia: World Bank
Oct 05, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s growth will be below average for South Asia which the World Bank expects to grow by 7.1 percent this year and 7.3 percent in 2017. According to the World Bank’s twice-a-year South Asia Economic Focus released yesterday, Sri Lanka is among the slowest growing economies in South Asia. […]
No 100 percent tax waivers given to Beer Company: Finance Ministry
Oct 04, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Finance Ministry says there is no truth that a beer manufacturing company has been given concessions for imports which would result in a revenue loss of 6 billion rupees to the state. In a statement the ministry said a beer manufacturing company in the country which was fully […]
Sri Lanka plans to levy heavy penalties for tax defaulters in 2017
Oct 04, 2016 (Reuters) – The Sri Lankan government plans to impose heavy penalties for tax defaulters and expand tax offices across the country as it aims to increase the tax base by bringing to heel thousands of tax dodgers, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said on Monday. The moves are expected to boost the island nation’s […]
Many economies yet to adopt good practices in PPP: WB
Oct 04, 2016 (LBO) – The World Bank has in a report set out new benchmarks for public-private partnerships (PPP) procurement across 82 economies. “Many economies are yet to adopt broadly recognized good practices to prepare, procure, and manage public-private partnerships (PPP),” the new World Bank Group’s Benchmarking PPP Procurement 2017 report stated. The report […]
‘s Global Competitiveness rank reflects exports, govt weakness: WEF report
Oct 04, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka fell three notches to 71st in terms of the Global Competitiveness Index for 2016-2017 compiled by the World Economic Forum, with poor ratings on exports, debt to GDP and labour market flexibility. Sri Lanka came in at 110th in terms of exports as a percentage of GDP, 107th […]
Sri Lanka adds more taxes for smokers
Sep 30, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has approved a 15 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) and 5.00 rupees production tax on cigarettes as well as an increase of cess on the import of “beedi” leaves, a statement said. “Cabinet has decided to impose 15 percent VAT on cigarettes again, increase the current production […]
‘s ministries should be aligned to be more effective
Sep 30, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s budget allocations for national road development are high, but it needs to be attuned to needs, and ministries should be properly allocated, a senior official said. “The problem is that we have fragmented systems, especially transport and highways are two different ministries so it is very difficult for […]
Sri Lanka can meet 5.4-pct budget deficit target for 2016: Ravi
Sep 30, 2016 (LBO) – Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said Sri Lanka is well on its way to achieving the fiscal target for 2016 as the Value Added Tax increase would be presented in Parliament next week. “Revenue collection is largely on target despite delays in passing the VAT amendments, and we are confident of […]