Category: Economy and Markets
Sri Lankan stocks close up 0.96-pct
July 23, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks recovered Friday on price gains on selected blue chip and midcap stocks on low volume trading, while Hotel Reefcomber shares continued to fall after the Amaya Leisure sell-out, brokers said. The All Share Price Index closed at 4,895. 51, up 0.96 percents while the more liquid Milanka […]
Sri Lanka to make better use of idle state assets
July 23, 2010 (LBO ) – Sri Lanka will set up a state company to develop joint ventures and lease assets of other failed state companies with a capital of 100 million rupees, without ‘privatizing’ them, a government minister said. The State Resources Management Corporation will make better use of state assets which are uneconomical, […]
Sri Lankan stocks close down 0.17-pct
July 22, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed lower Thursday as investors took profits from an overheating market, while nearly 44 percent of Hotel Reefcomber divested by Amaya Leisure was mostly picked up by retail investors, brokers said. The All Share Price Index closed at 4,849. 17, down 8.40 points while the more liquid […]
Sri Lanka to sell billion dollar bond to settle loans: minister
July 22, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will sell a billion dollar sovereign bond this year to settle more expensive short term foreign loans, media minister and cabinet spokesman Keheliya Rambukwelle said. “The cabinet approval has been given to issue a sovereign bond of one billion dollars,” Rambukwelle said. “We have taken short term loans […]
Sri Lanka shares head higher in record territory
July 21, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks edged higher into record territory Wednesday with investor sentiment buoyed by improved company earnings and private deals in Hatton National Bank boosting trading turnover, brokers said. The All Share Price Index closed at 4,857.57, up 1.06 percent (51.14 points) while the more liquid Milanka index rose 0. […]
Sri Lanka business wants action on loss-making state entities
July 21, 2010 (LBO) – The head of Sri Lanka’s top business chamber has called for loss-making state entities which are a drain on public finances to be turned around within a strict time frame or more radical alternatives considered. Ceylon Chamber of Commerce chairman Anura Ekanayake said recent reductions in inflation and interest rates […]
Sri Lankan stocks close up 1.82-pct
July 20, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed up passing the 4,800 point mark Tuesday with price gains across the board, while large deals on Dankotuwa Porcelain and John Keells Holdings (JKH) boosted turnover, brokers said. Dialog Axiata closed at 10.00 rupees, up 10.00 with 8.1 million shares traded, and Sri Lanka Telecom closed […]
Sri Lanka shares end up 1.12-pct
July 19, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed up Monday, lifted by speculative buying mainly by retailers with brokers urging investors to be more careful and focus on fundamentals as company earnings were improving. Some sectors remained attractive like plantations, manufacturing, banks and finance, he said. Ceylon & Foreign Trades was the day’s highest […]
Sri Lanka central bank independence hurt by law
July 19, 2010 (LBO) – A groundbreaking book by a former Sri Lankan central banker has shown how the institutions independence could be improved so that it can better resist fiscal and political pressure to print money and generate inflation. Economic analysts have warned that direct subscriptions to Treasury bill auctions is a ‘quantity easing’ […]
Sri Lankan central banker writes pro-poor book
July 17, 2010 (LBO) – A former Sri Lankan central banker has written a book that can open the eyes of third world policy makers and impoverished citizens helping them escape state-induced poverty caused by high inflation. “Money does not raise economic growth, but it is the fundamental cause of high rate of inflation that […]
Sri Lanka former war zone economy grows: central bank
July 16, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s northern and eastern provinces slightly increased their share of national Gross Domestic Product last year compared with 2008 following the end of a war, the Central Bank said. The western province remained as the highest contribution to GDP in 2009 but its share reduced further to 45. 1 […]
Sri Lanka appoints rating advisors
July 16, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has appointed Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and The Royal Bank of Scotland as rating advisors for four years, the Central Bank said. Sri Lanka wants to push its speculative sovereign rating to investment grade by 2014. The Central Bank has also […]