Category: Economy and Markets

Nov 04, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has given an 89. 55 million deal to build a technology school to China National Aero Technology Import and Export Corporation (CATIC) after larger hotel deal was cancelled over land sale dispute. CATIC was given the contract to re-located the Institute of Technology of Sri Lanka’s Moratuwa University […]

Nov 03, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state entities have been badly hit by the appointment of unqualified persons to top positions and while annual accounts were not available for some, a media report said. The COPE report is also critical on the performance of all university administrations except the Moratuwa University, the newspaper said. […]

November 3, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Thursday defended a controversial move to nationalise “under-performing” private companies and rejected allegations that the move was politically motivated. Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the proposed legislation was aimed at improving productivity in companies that received tax and other concessions but were plagued with mismanagement and inefficiency. […]

Nov 03, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka wants to swap debt to equity at some of its Chinese funded projects to reduce repayment pressure in the future, minister for international monetary co-operation Sarath Amunugama said. Sri Lanka has taken Chinese loans to build port, road and airport infrastructure. Many of the loans are from Exim […]

Nov 02, 2011 (LBO ) – Sri Lanka’s economic development minister Basil Rajapaksa urged state agencies to drop archaic rules and procedures that were delaying construction starts, and the ease of doing business in the country. Analysts point out that in many laws enacted in Sri Lanka after independence, a clause relating to ‘minister’s concurrence’ […]

Nov 02, 2011 (LBO) – A planned expropriation law violates economic freedoms of citizens and will scare away foreign investors, lawmakers representing Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party said. The law to expropriate ‘underperforming enterprises’ and ‘underutilized assets’ is being rushed to parliament on November 09 after being secretly written outside the state drafting […]

Nov 01, 2011 (LBO) – A secretly written expropriation law which has not yet been presented to parliament has come under fire from a lawmaker and an ex-chamber chief for undermining freedom of citizens and future investment prospects. The proposed bill, which was reportedly written by a private law firm, seeks to vest in the […]

Nov 01, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is aiming to reach 70 in an ease of doing business ranking compiled by the World Bank next year from 89 in 2012, and 30 in 2014 by cutting red tape and transforming the way the state interact with businesses, officials said. “If we do not change, others […]