Category: Economy and Markets

Seasonal consumer price inflation in March fell by 0.8 per cent in March after falling by 0.7 per cent in February.Annual average inflation, a more accurate measure of the direction of inflation, has been fallen steadily from around 2001.rn rnIn March Rice, coconuts and vegetable prices had fallen while meat and sugar prices had risen.rn […]

Sri Lanka votes Friday in an election that was meant to end a power struggle but is now widely expected to return a hung parliament that could further undermine an already faltering peace bidThe vote, the third in four years, was called by President Chandrika Kumaratunga after she disagreed with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe over […]

Trade deficit for January grew US$ 4 mn to US$ 152 mn in 2004, as foreign inflows from tourism, ports, private transfers and net inflows of portfolio investments eased the pressure on the rupee.rn rnEXPORTSrn rnA strong recovery in the global economy helped push export earnings up by 20 percent to US$ 459 mn in […]

Cultural pollution such as Coca-Cola and McDonalds will be spurned if the monks campaigning for this weeks elections in Sri Lanka have their way.They also say they will take sexually explicit movies off national TV as part of their avowed bid to save Sri Lankas heritage.Crime against women is increasing because television and movies influence […]

Sri Lankans are still keen to keep the peace process intact, though the rising cost of living still troubles the voting public, as the country heads for a snap poll on April 2.The following is an analysis of the findings of the third and final wave of the ORG-MARG SMART opinion poll series, in the […]

His conflict with the president may have pushed Sri Lanka into early elections on April, 2, but Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says he would rather talk peace with Tamil rebels than wage war with the head of state. Wickremesinghe, 55, said in an interview with AFP that he had no intention of impeaching President Chandrika […]

The Banks country director, Peter Harrold, said the relatively peaceful run-up to the April 2 vote had been a blessing, but an outbreak of post-election violence would be a blow to growth prospects.rn rn Sri Lanka had been set to record seven to eight percent growth rate this year, but the uncertainty associated with the […]

For Sri Lankas President Chandrika Kumaratunga running the country is like a family business, but she is taking a gamble at next weeks snap election that could decide the destiny of her dynasty. The daughter of two prime ministers, Kumaratunga, who has been president for 10 years, has surprised her closest allies with political manoeuvering […]