Category: Economy
Sri Lanka revises fuel prices: Diesel not increased
Oct 10, 2018 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government increased the prices of petrol and super diesel with effect from midnight Wednesday. Issuing a statement the Ministry of Finance said the price of 92 octane petrol will be increased by six rupees to 155 rupees a litre.95 octane petrol will go up by eight rupees to […]
Price controls dominate political debate but may not help consumers: Report
Oct 10, 2018 (LBO) – A new report by The Advocata Institute, titled “Price Controls in Sri Lanka: Political Theatre” finds that consumer price controls lead to unintended outcomes including lower quality.Politicians have imposed price controls on a variety of items in the belief that capping prices will lower costs but our survey shows that […]
Sri Lanka FM interview ahead of IMF and WB annual meet on global trade, economy
Oct 10, 2018 (LBO) – Global finance and reserve bank chiefs will gather this week in Bali, Indonesia for the annual gathering of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank amid rising concern over trade war and risks of global economic crisis.Sri Lanka’s Minister of Finance and Communications, Mangala Samaraweera is chair of the Groups […]
Sri Lanka earnings from tourism up: Workers’ remittances decline marginally in July 2018
Oct 09, 2018 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s external sector recorded a moderate performance in July 2018. The trade deficit continued to widen in July 2018 (year-on-year) with higher import expenditure despite export earnings surpassing US dollars 1 billion during the month. Earnings from tourism recorded a modest growth while workers’ remittances declined marginally, on a […]
Sri Lanka to integrate SMEs into formal sector to facilitate their growth : Fin Min
Oct 09, 2018 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Minister of Finance said the government aims to integrate small and medium scale enterprises into an official sector and establish hard and soft infrastructure frameworks to facilitate their growth. “Every country in the world has identified the importance of SMEs in their economies as a practical instrument in achieving […]
Palm Oil industry rejects vilification of crop as “baseless and unscientific”
Oct 08, 2018 (LBO) – The vilification of oil palm in Sri Lanka on the grounds of the crop’s purported adverse impact on the environment is completely unjustifiable, given that the extent of land under oil palm is just 1.1 per cent of the extent under traditional crops – tea, rubber and coconut, an industry body […]
‘s exports to South Asia Region: WB
Oct 08, 2018 (LBO) – If trade barriers are overcome, trade within South Asia can increase three-fold, from 23 billion US dollars to 67 billion US dollars, suggests a World Bank report. “Sri Lanka has the potential to more than double its exports to South Asia,” the new ‘A Glass Half Full: The Promise of […]
‘s stock/bond markets approach $ 500mn for 2018
October 8, 2018 (LBO) – Net foreign selling of Sri Lanka’s stocks and bonds is nearing US$500 million dollars for 2018. The outflows have been a significant factor in the devaluation of Sri Lanka’s currency and declining foreign reserves. Year to date in 2018, net foreign selling of Sri Lanka’s stocks and government securities stands […]
Sri Lanka targets USD2.5Bn FDI in 2018
Oct 05, 2018 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is targeting 2.5 billion US dollars worth of foreign direct investments (FDI) for 2018 from 1.63 billion US dollars in 2017, a senior official said. “Our target is 2.1 billion US dollars and we are trying to stretch it to 2.5 billion US dollars,” Mangala Yapa, member, Board of Directors, Board […]
President, NEC hold discussions on devaluation of rupee and economy
Oct 05, 2018 (LBO) – Special attention was drawn at a discussion regarding the promotion of Sri Lanka’s export sector and managing the devaluation of the rupee by the National Economic Council, headed by President Maithripala Sirisena. The NEC gathered under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat, Wednesday with the participation […]
Sri Lanka tea prices marginally up in Sept 2018
Oct 04, 2018 (LBO) – Auction average for the month of September 2018 totalled Rs.537.77 compared to Rs.534.02 of August 2018 showing a marginal increase of Rs.03.75 month on month, a new report said. “However in comparison to September 2017 average of Rs.635.40 it shows a substantial decrease of Rs.97.63,” Forbes & Walker Tea Brokers said […]
‘s consumer durable retailers
Oct 03, 2018 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s consumer durable retailers’ operating cash flow is likely to weaken following new government regulations that impose a 100 percent cash margin on the import of most types of consumer durables, Fitch Ratings says. The credit profiles of rated retailers, such as Singer (Sri Lanka) PLC (A-(lka)/Stable) and Abans […]