Category: Economy
Sri Lanka Investment Forum to feature over 50 projects & corporate investment opportunities
Themed “Sri Lanka – Asia’s Next Growth Haven”, the Sri Lanka Investment Forum (SLIF) 2021 jointly organized by the Board of Investments (BOI), The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the Colombo Stock Exchange will kick off on the 7th of June 2021 on a virtual platform. SLIF 2021 will showcase to the world, Sri Lanka’s […]
Central Bank reduces exporter proceeds conversion rule to 10-pct
The Central Bank, having considered the requests made by exporters has amended Rule No. 2 of 2021 by reducing the percentage of mandatory conversion requirement of export proceeds of goods into Sri Lankan Rupees from twenty-five (25) percent to ten (10) percent. The Bank has also extended the number of days given to exporters to […]
ADB should ramp up efforts to mitigate COVID-19 impact on SDGs: independent evaluation
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), in partnership with other development organizations, must give high priority to efforts to assess and address the implications of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to the 2021 Annual Evaluation Review (AER) conducted by ADB’s Independent Evaluation Department (IED). The report […]
China Development Bank signs USD 500Mn Financing Facility Agreement with Sri Lanka
China Development Bank (CDB) and Sri Lankan Finance Ministry on Monday signed USD 500 Million Foreign Currency Term Financing Facility (FTFF), which is the second tranche of the total RMB 2 billion plus USD 1 billion FTFF supported by the Chinese side to Sri Lanka after the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier in March, the […]
WB says as SL should focus on competitiveness and debt sustainability to ensure resilient rebound
Despite the heavy toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on Sri Lanka’s economy and the lives of its people, the economy will recover in 2021, though challenges remain, says the latest World Bank Sri Lanka Development Update: Economic and Poverty Impact of COVID-19 released today. The Sri Lanka Development Update (SLDU) notes that the country, hit with an unprecedented economic […]
Advocata Institute launches tool to track everyday food price changes
Advocata’s latest policy product tracks the average retail prices of a basket of goods and provides an indication of how much prices have changed over time. With the use of such tools, anyone including policymakers and politicians alike has access to track price fluctuations. This could enable anyone to see if policies have direct or […]
‘s gross official reserves estimated at USD 4.1bn at end March 2021
Sri Lanka’s gross official reserves were estimated at US dollars 4.1 billion (excluding the swap facility with the PBOC), with an import cover of 3 months, at the end-March 2021, the Central Bank said. Recently, the Central Bank entered into a bilateral currency swap arrangement with the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) amounting to CNY […]
‘Bath Curry Indicator’ by Advocata Institute will be launched tomorrow
Food inflation has risen over the last year, although the overall inflation is low. According to the National Consumer Price Index, overall prices rose by 3.7% between January 2020 and January 2021, but food inflation rose by 5.9%. While this is a matter of concern to the public, items like turmeric and green gram, which […]
Validity period to open Special Deposit Accounts extended; USD 360mn deposited so far
The Cabinet has approved a proposal tabled by the Prime Minister as the Minister of Finance to extend the validity period and to issue orders in accordance with the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Act to encourage the parties who wish to deposit money in Special Deposit Accounts. The validity period for openings of the […]
Material Sector – The Scavengers of Recovery
Softlogic Research, in its most recent publication, took a very strong stance on the Material sector, predicting a strong growth backed by economic recovery and the renewable energy drive. Digging deeper into the trickle-down effects of core economic policies such as protectionism and economic stimulus, the publication deals with the potential benefits of such policies […]
Govt has no intention to tarnish its unblemished debt service record, CBSL clarifies reports
The Government has no intention to tarnish its unblemished debt service record by delaying the settlement of maturing debt obligations, the Central Bank clarified. The clarification came after a newspaper today publishing a report of a planned delay in settlement of dues on SLDBs and foreign currency loans obtained by the Government from domestic banks. […]
Colombo Consumer Price inflation increased to 4.1-pct in March with low base effect
Headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the Colombo Consumer Price Index increased to 4.1 percent in March 2021 from 3.3 percent in February 2021. This was due to the statistical effect of the low base prevailed in March 2020, the Statistics Department said. Meanwhile, Food inflation (Y-o-Y) increased to 9.6 percent […]