New agencies to fast track Sri Lanka investment approvals

May 04, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government will fast track the approval of investment projects through the setting up of two new agencies, a state minister said in a statement. “Ideally the time frame for approval of projects should be about two months,” Sujeewa Senasinghe, state minister, Development Strategies and International Trade, said. “The Government is […]

Chevron plans to expand local and regional presence

May 04, 2016 (LBO) – Chevron Lubricants Lanka said that they have no immediate plans to go to new markets but will focus on growing local and regional presence, a senior official said. “Plans are to grow in the local and two export markets,” Kishu Gomes, chief executive of Chevron said. “Bangladesh is a huge […]

CSE to change methodology to calculate price multiples

May 04, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) said it would use quarterly earnings to calculate price multiples from May 3, 2016. The new method would use quarterly earnings instead of sourcing earnings from the annual results and calculating the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, price-to-book value ratio (P/BV) and dividend yield (DY)., a […]

Ceylon Petroleum losses rise despite falling oil prices

May 04, 2016 (LBO) – State-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) made a substantial loss of 18.4 billion rupee in 2015 compared with a marginal profit of 1.5 billion rupees in 2014, despite international oil prices falling sharply, according to provisional data released by the Central Bank. A significant reduction of domestic petroleum prices at the […]

Sri Lanka IMF agreement faces implementation risks: Fitch

May 03, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s 1.5 billion US dollar three-year IMF programme eases near-term balance-of-payments risks but will require sustained commitment from the authorities to address long-standing weaknesses in external and public finances, Fitch Ratings said. The ratings agency said the IMF support therefore has no immediate impact on Sri Lanka’s ‘B+’/Negative sovereign […]

VAT goes up to 15 pct, threshold reduced: Finance Ministry

May 03, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Value Added Tax (VAT) will be revised up to 15 percent from 11 percent from May 2nd, with pharmaceuticals and education sectors being exempt, the Finance Ministry said. The Wholesale and Retail trade will be eligible for this taxation, although several items are exempted. The threshold for VAT […]

‘s foreign debt servicing rises steadily

May 01, 2016 (LBO) – The amount Sri Lanka has spent on external debt repayment and interest has more than doubled over the last five years, Central Bank data shows. Earnings from exports, however, have not grown as much. Debt service payments increased to 4.7 billion dollars in 2015 from 1.8 billion dollars in 2011, […]

Colombo inflation accelerates 3.1-pct in April 2016

Apr 29, 2016 (LBO) – Consumer prices in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo has accelerated 3.1 percent in April 2016 from a year earlier, up from 2.0 percent in March 2016 with the inflation index gaining 1.3 percent in the month, the state statistics office said. The Year on Year inflation of Food Group has increased […]

Sri Lanka’s deal with IMF has 3 benefits for external financing profile: Moody’s

Apr 29, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s 1.5 billion US dollars deal announced today with the IMF will have three benefits for Sri Lanka’s external financing profile, issuing a statement Moody’s Investors Service said.Marie Diron, Senior Vice President, Sovereign Risk Group, Moody’s Investors Service, and the lead sovereign analyst for Sri Lanka highlighted the three points as […]

No reason to keep exporter’s money abroad: Central Banker

Apr 28, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lankan exporters do not have a clear reason to keep their money abroad as the Central Bank has already removed restrictions on foreign currency withdrawals from foreign currency accounts, a senior official said. Deputy Governor of the Central Bank Nandalal Weerasinghe speaking at an event said the exporters will […]

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