Category: Economy
Millennium Challenge Corporation approves biggest grant ever received by Sri Lanka
Apr 26, 2019 (LBO) – The Millennium Challenge Corporation of the US Government has approved a grant of 480 million US dollars to Sri Lanka at its board meeting held on the 25th of April 2019 in Washington D.C. subject to Congressional Notification. On the request of the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the MCC has done […]
Central Bank presents annual report to Finance Minister; 2018 growth 3.2-pct
Apr 25, 2019 (LBO) – The sixty-ninth Annual Report of the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka was presented to Mangala Samaraweera, the Minister of Finance, by Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, the Governor of the Central Bank. According to the report, the real GDP growth was recorded at 3.2 percent in 2018, compared […]
Treasury has paid last year dues of Rs.84 bn for various projects
Apr 25, 2019 (LBO) – The Treasury has paid off Rs.84,461 million which were due by December 31, 2018, for various programmes and projects implemented under different Government ministries and institutions. Statement from the Finance Ministry Earlier, Treasury had been informed that Rs.99,415 million was due at December 31, 2018, for completing various projects undertaken […]
Fitch says borrowing risks raised due to attacks
Apr 25, 2019 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings issuing a statement said that the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks will undermine tourism earnings and pose additional external financing risks for Sri Lanka. The international ratings agency releasing a short update warned that Sri Lanka, which already has high levels of debt repayments till about 2022, could have […]
SL Fin Min says economy resilient will withstand negative impacts from terror attacks
Apr 25, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister says that the islands strong economic fundamentals will be able to support resilience to withstand the economic impact. “We had laid a sound foundation for the economy to withstand shocks of the nature that we faced on Sunday,” Mangala Samaraweera, Minister of Finance said addressing parliament. “Nonetheless, there will […]
Mangala PB Yapa appointed new Chairman of Board of Investments
Apr 11, 2019 (LBO) – Mangala PB Yapa has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, President’s Media Division said in a statement. According to the statement, he has received his appointment letter from President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat this morning. He assumed duties as the 22nd […]
Central Bank launches roadmap for sustainable finance in Sri Lanka
Apr 11, 2019 (LBO) – Central Bank of Sri Lanka launched a Roadmap for Sustainable Finance in Sri Lanka on 10 April 2019 at the Sustainable Banking Network Global Meeting of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Washington.This Roadmap provides a broad direction to financial regulators and financial institutions to effectively manage environmental, social and governance (ESG) […]
CB introduces real time notifications for transactions in Govt securities via SMS, Email
Apr 08, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank which operates and maintains the LankaSecure system has introduced an SMS, Email alert service from 25th March 2019 to enhance the awareness of investors in the government securities.The SMS, Email alert is a service that sends real-time notifications to investors in government securities for each and every movement […]
Policy rates could be reduced in future if current trends continue: Central Bank
Apr 08, 2019 (LBO) – Monetary Board of the Central Bank today said that they are of the view that, if the current trends in global financial markets, trade balance, and credit growth continue, policy interest rates could be reduced in the period ahead, given well-anchored inflation and inflation expectations. Projections, as well as inflation expectations, […]
Sri Lanka Central Bank maintains policy interest rates at current levels
Apr 08, 2019 (LBO) – Monetary Board of Sri Lanka’s Central Bank at its meeting held today decided to maintain policy interest rates at their current levels. Accordingly, the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of the Central Bank will remain at 8.00 percent and 9.00 percent, respectively. “The Board […]
Sri Lanka official reserves improve to USD 7.6 billion by end March
Apr 05, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s gross official reserves were 7,621.9 million US dollars by the end of March, up from 6,035.16 million US dollars in February this year, latest Central Bank data showed.By the end of March, foreign currency reserves were 6,728.6 million dollars while the reserve position in the IMF was 66.4 […]
CEB Eng Union points fingers at PUCSL and Snr. Govt officials for power crisis
Apr 04, 2019 (LBO) – The power crisis in the country is mainly due to the timely non approval of the `Least Cost Long-Term Generation Expansion Plan’ (LCLTGEP) by the Public Utilities Commission (PUCSL) and interference of top officials in the power ministry. “We put 50 percent of the blame for causing this current crisis on the PUCSL,” Saumya […]