Category: Economy
Sri Lanka economy to grow 3.5-pct in 2020: Central Bank
Nov 05, 2019 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan economy is projected to grow by around 3.5 percent in real terms in 2020, a new Central Bank report says. “The growth is expected to be broad-based and positively contributed by all major economic activities,” it says. “Further, investor confidence, which was adversely affected by domestic uncertainties, […]
Sri Lanka FDI down in first half of 2019: Dips in service and infrastructure sectors
Nov 05, 2019 (LBO) – The Central Bank says that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) including loans to projects approved by the Board of Investment (BOI), decreased by 61.3 percent during the first half of 2019 compared with the same period last year. The island received US 553.2 million dollars in the first six months of […]
‘s EFF with USD164mn disbursement
Nov 02, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank should maintain a data-dependent monetary policy, completing the sixth review of the country’s extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), the IMF said. The completion of the sixth review, upon the granting of a waiver of non‑observance for the end‑June 2019 performance criterion on the […]
Opinion: Are apartment developers moving to suburbs?
LankaPropertyWeb’s (LPW) With Colombo city turning into a business hub more than a residential area, recent studies of LankaPropertyWeb (LPW) show that apartment developers are now exploring the suburbs to cater to the growing interest for vertical living amongst the locals. The numerous developments taking place in the main city resulting in diminishing space amongst […]
Ceylon Chamber advocates 12 focus areas to accelerate economic growth
Oct 30, 2019 (LBO) – The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce has identified twelve (12) areas as priority areas for Sri Lanka’s economic development in the 2020-25 period. The chamber launched the working draft of the Sri Lanka Economic Acceleration Framework (SEAF) 2020-25 on 17 September 2019 with the aim of identifying key areas for the […]
‘s cabinet approves MCC grant of USD 480 Million
Oct 29, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers today approved the implementation of 480 million US dollars MCC grant that consists of grant funds for traffic management in Colombo, road construction Island wide, and land administration improvements covering the whole country. These compact programmes to be funded by this project have been developed […]
Advocata supports recommendation to allow AG dept representation at COPE
Oct 29, 2019 (LBO) – Advocata, a local think tank has welcomed the recommendation to include representatives of the Attorney General’s (AG) Department at Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) proceedings and urges the government to prioritise this suggestion. The third report of the COPE was presented to the parliament on the 23rd of October, 2019. […]
Sri Lanka ranked 99th in new Doing Business Index
Oct 24, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is ranked as 99th out of 190 countries with a score of 61.8 in Doing Business 2020 report released by the World Bank. The Doing Business report presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across economies. As per the […]
Vote on Account presented to Parliament
Oct 23, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera today presented the Vote of Account for the first four months of 2020 in the Parliament. Accordingly, over 1,470 billion rupees will be allocated for the capital and recurrent expenditure headings while 5 billion rupees will be allocated for the advance accounts. For the […]
Sri Lanka inflation at 5-pct in Sept 2019
Oct 22, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) increased to 5 percent from 3.4 percent recorded in August on a year-on-year basis, the Department of Census and Statistics said. The NCPI for all items for the month of September 2019 was 130.6. An increase of 0.9 index points or 0.7 percentage […]
Financial Action Task Force delists Sri Lanka from Grey List
Oct 21, 2019 (LBO) – The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global policy setter on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), has delisted Sri Lanka from FATF’s Compliance Document which is more commonly identified as “the Grey List”. The decision was taken at the FATF Plenary held during 13-18 October 2019 […]
Will Jaffna International Airport help the Northern economy take-off at last?
By Jekhan Aruliah The opening, strictly speaking the re-opening, of Jaffna International Airport (IATA airport code JAF) in October 2019 was one of the more startling events in the North since the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009. In the North we held our breaths as the promise, unfulfilled for years, approached […]