Category: Economy and Markets

Nov 08, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s investment prospects would be hurt by sudden changes in policy and laws relating to property rights and investment returns analysts said, describing a condition identified by economists as ‘regime uncertainty’. “Consistent government policy: that is what investors are looking for,” Sujeewa Mudalige, President of the Institute of Chartered […]

Nov 08, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s large business chambers have urged the state to defer a hastily drawn up law to expropriate three dozen business ventures which has drawn fire from many quarters. “Considering the likely negative impact of the proposed legislation and the wide spread negative publicity it has received, we urge the […]

Nov 07, 2011 (LBO) – A convention centre run by a Singapore-based firm in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo has been listed for expropriation in a controversial bill which is targeting land in 37 companies. “The safety of foreign investment is guaranteed through the acceptance by two third majority of Parliament of the Constitutional Guarantee of […]

Nov 07, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s military is looking for land in Colombo to build a five star hotel and will also float a construction firm to bid for state projects, a media report said. The newspaper said Sri Lanka’s military chief Jagath Jayasuriya had said there was a need for “a separate company […]

November 6, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president has vowed to turn his war-battered nation into the “miracle of Asia,” but a controversial new nationalisation law is seen as a major blow to hopes of wooing foreign capital. The government says the move will boost investor confidence in the south Asian country, hungry for foreign […]

Nov 05, 2011 (LBO) – A sugar mill in Sri Lanka slated for expropriation has been blockaded by ruling party activists and there was no police protection its owner said, raising fresh questions about liberty, rule of law and justice for the island’s citizens. Gamage’s words echoed a statement from Agroislna, a Venezuelan agriculture supply […]

Oct 05, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s large business chambers have tacitly endorsed a draft law to expropriate assets of several businesses on a promise that it will never be done again, according to a statement. The business chambers said they have been assured that it will be a “one off bill” and the expropriated […]

Nov 04, 2011 (LBO) – In a bizarre development, Sri Lanka’s Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, a Marxist opposition party has opposed a state plan to expropriate assets of private citizens, contrary to the original teachings of a German theoretician. The state has been accused by the main opposition of using the laws to wrest land belonging […]