Category: Economy and Markets
Sri Lanka stocks slide 1.1-pct, rupee held
Feb 26, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s stocks slid 1.15 percent Tuesday amid a broad based sell-off ahead of an UN resolution over human rights later in the week and the rupee held steady with selling by a state bank, brokers and dealers said. Colombo’s benchmark All Share Index fell 66 points to 5,669.48 points […]
Sri Lanka should watch debt, contingent, liabilities: IMF
Feb 26, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should be careful about mounting external liabilities and reserve adequacy, with national debt already on the “high side” at over 80 percent of gross domestic product, the International Monetary Fund has said.Sri Lanka’s official debt to GDP ratio is expected to climb slightly to 81 percent in 2012 […]
Sri Lanka forum highlights risks to ocean resources
Feb 22, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s future lies in the vast resources to be found in the ocean surrounding the island but this wealth is at risk from pollution and illegal practices, experts said. The country is on the verge of discovering oil and gas in offshore waters and its location makes it well-placed […]
Sri Lanka urban index finds prices rising 20-pct over year
Feb 21, 2013 (LBO) – An index that tracks key essential expenses of urban middle class households in Sri Lanka has found that prices rose more than 20 percent over the past year, about double that of a widely watched official index.The Capital Alliance index will maintain a fixed basket using a Laspeyres formula, named […]
Sri Lanka Treasuries yield frozen
Feb 20, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Treasuries yields were kept flat Wednesday’s auction with only 14.9 billion rupees in bids for 20 billion rupees of bills being offered at the auction being accepted, data from the state debt office showed. The debt office which is a unit of the Central Bank said 926 million […]
Sri Lanka has to catch up on English, IT literacy: UNDP rep
Feb 20, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is losing an advantage it had in basic literacy and the use of English language with other nations catching up fast and information technology literacy becoming increasingly important, a United Nations official said.Sri Lanka had the highest literacy rate in South Asia. “But simply having a literate population […]
Sri Lanka Etisalat creates active market for Android App development
Feb 20, 2013 (LBO) – A marketplace created by Sri Lanka’s Etisalat is helping the development and sale of Apps for smart phones based on the Android operating system, and has been recognized in a United Nations report, officials said.The UN Conference on Trade and Development in its information economy report 2012 said Etisalat’s App […]
Sri Lanka rupee weakens amid excess liquidity
Feb 19, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s rupee weakened below 127.00 to the US dollar in the spot market Tuesday following a prolonged period of excess liquidity in money markets, dealers said though authorities have begun to permanently sterilize some excess rupees. The spot US dollar was quoted around 127.00/10 Tuesday though a state name […]
Sri Lanka sells US$152 million in floating rate bonds
Feb 15, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has sold 152.12 million US dollars of 3-year bonds to yield 400 basis points above the 6-month London Interbank Offered Rate, the state debt office said.The debt office which is a unit of the Central Bank offered to sell 60 million dollars of bonds styled ‘Sri Lanka Development […]
Sri Lanka investments eyed by Polish businesses
Feb 14, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state investment promotion agency said Polish investors met the agency to assess possible investments in power generation and pharmaceuticals manufacture.A delegation from Polska Izba Gospodarcze, the Polish Chamber of Commerce headed by Leszek Lazarczyk of Linter group in Poland had visited Sri Lanka’ the Board of Investment said. […]
‘s tax-take weakens amid slowdown, exemptions: IMF
Feb 14, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tax revenues had fallen below target in 2012 amid an economic slowdown, declining imports and tax exemptions, the International Monetary Fund said. The IMF said Sri Lanka’s value added tax (VAT) regime is yielding less taxes than it should at current rates in force. “Strengthening the administration of […]
Sri Lanka seeks US200mn from World Bank for health
Feb 14, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is seeking a 200 million US dollar credit from the World Bank to improve the health care system and reduce non-communicable diseases, minister Keheliya Rambukwelle said.The money will be used in programs to reduce malnutrition, prevent and control non-communicable diseases and improve maternal and child care. The program […]