Category: Economy

July 12, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s electricity generation in April 2009 fell 2.2 percent to 773 million units (GigaWatt hours) from a year earlier, while diesel sales were down 10.7 percent, the latest government figures showed. Sri Lanka’s economic growth slowed to 1.5 percent in the first quarter of 2009 from 6.2 a year […]

July 11, 2009 (LBO) – Dropouts from Sri Lanka’s education system are doing a greater service to the nation than those who have had a free education from the state education system, a senior minister said.Deputy finance minister Sarath Amunugama said more than a million Sri Lankans were working abroad sending nearly three billion dollars […]

July 9, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has received an assurance from a US diplomat that its application for a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)) would be viewed on economic factors alone, the island’s foreign ministry said. Yesterday the government presented more ‘supplementary estimates’ to parliament to increase spending. Officials say Sri Lanka […]

July 8, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s foreign aid pipeline from Western nations showed signs of narrowing amid deteriorating relations, though draw downs of previously committed aid continued apace, official data shows.Analysts say fresh aid commitments could arrest the trend later in the year.The power ministry said in June that China was giving an 891 […]

July 8, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka state revenues fell 9.6 percent while day-to-day expenditure zoomed 34.5 percent driving the revenue deficit up an unprecedented 528 percent to 118.2 billion rupees, the latest official data has revealed. The government had managed to increase capital expenditure by 9.0 percent to 74.6 billion rupees in the period. […]

NEW DELHI, July 6, 2009 (AFP) – India on Monday offered 100 million dollars for the tens of thousands of Tamil civilians displaced by conflict in Sri Lanka. India is home to millions of Tamils in southern Tamil Nadu state, which is separated by a narrow strip of sea from Sri Lanka.“I propose to allocate […]

July 4, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s central bank chief said Saturday that the island could live without a major IMF bailout that had been delayed by the final stages of the government’s fight with Tamil Tiger rebels.The government had requested the 1.9-billion-dollar loan in March to help stave off its first balance of payments […]

July 3, 2009 (LBO) – The award of a stand by loan for Sri Lanka by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is awaiting approval of its executive board, which is yet to set a date to consider the application, an official said. “But discussions are continuing, and the finalization of the program, as with any […]

July 3, 2009 (LBO) – Zimbabwe is starting to recover within months of the money monopoly of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe being broken, which allowed foreign currencies to compete against the hyperinflating domestic currency. In a ‘dollarized’ economy, transactions are conducted in foreign currency and people also save in foreign money and the government […]

July 1, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economy is forecast grow at a faster 3.5 to 4.5 percent in 2009, up from the 2. 5 percent originally expected, following the end of a 30-year war and easier money, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said. In June 2009, inflation rose 0. 9 percent from a year […]

June 30, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economic recovery will be driven largely by domestic reconstruction flowing from an end of a three decade long war with some support from an external pick up, a regional economist said.“A lot of domestic factors, the end of war, rehabilitation, re-construction and improvement from agriculture will drive growth,” […]

June 30, 2009 (LBO) – Consumer prices in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo rose 0.9 percent in June from a year earlier, down from 3.3 in May, while prices during the month moved up 1.3 percent, the government’s statistics office said. So far this year Sri Lanka’s central bank has technically ‘loosened’ monetary policy, cutting policy […]