Category: Economy

Aug 08, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has said interest rates on benchmark government securities had begun to ease with the opening up of the market to foreign investors, continued liquidity and lower inflation expectations. “In line with the rate reduction in the primary market, the secondary market yield curve that represents the […]

Aug 08, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s trade ministry and the urban development authority plan to build a 15-story government complex in the suburb of Rajagiriya, just outside the capital Colombo, ministry secretary R M K Ratnayake said.The cost of the project will be around three billion rupees which will be allocated by the state […]

July 08, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s inflation would head down faster in the coming months as its monetary authority had started a tightening cycle earlier than the region, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said.“We are one of the few countries to start tightening early,” Governor Cabraal said. “We will also see results earlier.” He […]

Aug 08, 200 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has started online sales of old and commemorative coins which are sought after by collectors worldwide, with old notes also put on the block soon, a top official said.Governor Nivard Cabraal said old notes would also be made available to collectors in the near future and […]

Aug 07, 2008 (LBO) – The appropriation bill for Sri Lanka’s budget for 2009 will be presented to parliament on October 9 for its first reading, the government said Thursday. The budget speech and second reading of the budget will be on November 6, a government spokesman said. The cabinet this week approved a proposal […]

Aug 05, 2008 (LBO) — Sri Lanka’s environmental protection office is hoping to collect up to 800 million rupees from a series of taxes charged on people who own cars, mobile phones, standard light bulbs and firms that use telecom transmission towers.The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) will also charge a two percent levy on top […]

July 31, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka consumer inflation in the capital Colombo slowed to 26.6 percent in July 2008 from a record 28.2 percent in June, the government’s statistics office said. High inflation has also made it more expensive for companies to borrow. In the month of July prices rose 0.2 percent compared with […]

July 30, 2008 (LBO) – Australia and Myanmar would be admitted as observers of the South Asian Association of Regional Corporation (SAARC) at this year’s sessions, now underway in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, an official said.Sri Lanka’s additional foreign secretary Prasad Kariawasam told reporters after a meeting of the so-called ‘standing committee’ of foreign […]

July 30, 2008 (AFP) – South Asian leaders meeting in Sri Lanka this weekend will discuss improving commercial ties but political and other tensions have dampened hopes a regional free trade pact will be implemented any time soon, economists say. “It took the European Union 50 years to get the euro out. We’re still just […]

July 29, 2008 (LBO) – Rising inflation has made it difficult for mature market central banks to print their way out of the credit crisis, and emerging markets that continue to print money may find investors shunning them, the International Monetary Fund has said.In an update to its Global Financial Stability Report IMF said the […]

July 29, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Treasury Secretary P B Jayasundera, who submitted his resignation to President Mahinda Rajapaksa after a court order faulted him over a privatization deal, has been asked to continue in his position.The court said Jayasundera had acted in collusion with the current JKH chairman, Susantha Ratnayake, a director of […]

July 28, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Treasury Secretary P B Jayasundera has submitted his resignation to President Mahinda Rajapakse following a court order that faulted him over a privatization deal and a tax holiday, an official said.Reports said Jayasundera had offered to resign soon after the order was made last week, but the government […]