Category: Economy

March 19, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will get 85 million US dollars in loans and grants from the Asian Development Bank for water supply and sanitation in four regional urban areas, a government minister said. The National Water Supply and Drainage Board will use the funds to rehabilitate and develop water and sanitation infrastructure […]

Mar 16, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economic growth slowed to 6.0 percent in 2008 from 6.8 percent a year ago, with growth in the fourth quarter slowing to 4.3 percent, the government’s statistics office said. “The impact of global turmoil coming from the external trade sector was the key reason for the slowdown,” director […]

Mar 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has cut its de facto main signal policy rate that sets the ceiling on Interbank borrowing rates by 175 basis points to 14.75 percent, and also lifted margins on import letters of credit set late last year, the Central Bank said. The regulator has also eased curbs on […]

March 17, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka needs to urgently integrate the western province, which accounts for half of gross domestic product, with the rest of the country to accelerate economic growth, a senior World Bank official said. Naoko Ishii, World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka, said one of key objectives of the government’s […]

March 13, 2009 (LBO) – Today Lanka Business Online is starting a new column by one of Sri Lanka’s most senior and well-known economists, who has practiced, taught and written on economics for more than 35 years. The column is published in the Sinhala language under the title Balumgala in www.vimasuma.com The column ‘WatchTower’ by […]

Mar 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves have been hit due to poor foreign exchange reserve management coming from operating a soft-peg with the US dollar, an Asian Development Bank commissioned study has said. Sri Lanka is now negotiating an IMF bailout with foreign reserves halved from September to December when active peg […]

Mar 09, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Employee’s Provident Fund (EPF) which forcibly takes a part of the salary of a private sector worker for ‘management’ by the state may allow partial withdrawals of balances if new proposals become law, officials said. Up to now desperate private workers hit by high inflation created in the […]

Mar 06, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka rupee traded at 114.20/25 against the US dollar in the spot market after the central bank said it had gone for an International Monetary Fund bailout. Dealers say exporters are hoping for a devaluation of about 5 percent at least, though it is uncertain whether the currency […]

Mar 05, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka had received 889,9 million US dollars of foreign direct investments in 2008 which includes a 136.72 million US dollar loan, the island’s investment promotion agency said. The Board of investment said the investments in ventures approved by it were up 21 percent from the US dollars 734 million […]

March 05, 2009 (LBO) – Overseas Realty (Ceylon) Ltd. (ORCL) said it is finding it difficult to sell apartments in a new high-rise condominium complex being built in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo due to the economic crisis. But ORCL chairman S P Tao, head of Singapore’s Shing Kwan group, said he is confident of […]

Mar 04, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is among low income countries (LICs) at “medium” risk from global economic turmoil, and some nations were at “high” risk needing foreign aid as commercial markets dry up, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said. Direct financial transmission of the crisis was spreading to countries like Ghana and […]

March 04, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has asked for a 1,900 million US dollar balance of payments support facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the first tranche was expected later this month, the central bank said. Sri Lanka also got support from the IMF after the Indian Ocean tsunami hit the country […]