Category: Economy and Markets
Sri Lanka central bank to issue own securities to mop up inflows
Sept 30, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank will soon issue its own securities to mop rupee liquidity generated from purchasing foreign exchange, because the monetary authority is about to run out of its Treasury Bills portfolio, Governor Nivard Cabraal said. On Monday the monetary authority’s net Treasury bills position fell to 2.7 billion […]
Sri Lankan shares close up 0.87-pct
Sep 30, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed up Wednesday in an end-quarter rally with buyers chasing plantation sector stocks, and hotel stock extending gains, brokers said. The All Share Price Index was up 0.87 percent (25.39 points) to end at 2,938.64 while Milanka index liquid stocks gained 1.15 percent (37.47 points) to close […]
Sri Lanka poor governance hindering productivity: expert
Sept 29, 2009 (LBO) – Poor governance, weak institutions, high inflation, high interest rates and protectionism, are hindering efforts by Sri Lanka’s private sector to improve productivity, a trade promotion expert has said.Lloyd Yapa, a former government official who supervised an industrial export drive of the government at one time, also says companies should try […]
Sri Lankan shares up 0.56-pct
Sep 29, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed up Tuesday as investors bet on an expected rally in the coming weeks when market liquidity is lifted by refunds from two Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), brokers said.Hatton National Bank closed at 163.25 rupees, up 1.25, while DFCC Bank closed flat at 151.00 rupees. Sampath Bank […]
Sri Lanka state revenues improve in July; budget gap still wide
Sept 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state revenues picked up in July, with taxes in the first seven months only 1.47 percent behind last year, but the budget gap continues to be wide, with current expenses growing 24.7 percent, the latest official data showed. The implied annualized overall deficit narrowed to 10.4 percent of […]
Sri Lankan shares close flat
Sep 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed flat Monday, as investors took a break from an overheating market, while the trend is expected to continue for a few more days, brokers said. The All Share Price Index was up 0.05 percent (1.59 points) to end at 2,893.64 while the more liquid Milanka fell […]
Sri Lanka re-appoints former Treasury secy. Jayasundera
Sept 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s former Treasury Secretary P B Jayasundera has resumed his post with immediate effect after the President Mahinda Rajapaksa re-appointed him to the post, the department of government information said. Jayasundera had served as Treasury Secretary under two Pesidents. Sumith Abeysinghe, who was Treasury Secretary has been made Cabinet […]
Sri Lanka meets quantitative targets under IMF program: CB Governor
Sept 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has met the key end-September quantitative targets under an International Monetary Fund program, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said.“We have met all the targets under the program,” Cabraal said. A key target is a ceiling on reserve money or the narrowest supply of money made up of circulating […]
Sri Lanka 2010 budget may be delayed: report
Sept 27, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka government’s budget for 2010 which is usually presented to parliament in November may be delayed till after elections expected in April, a media report said.Another IMF mission is due in November. It is not clear whether the 2010 structural benchmark for December 31, 2010 will be dropped […]
IMF raises 2010 global growth forecast to 3 percent
PITTSBURGH, September 26, 2009 (AFP) – The International Monetary Fund foresees a stronger than anticipated recovery from the economic crisis, with global growth approaching three percent in 2010, world leaders said Friday.The IMF had estimated in July a global contraction of 1.4 percent in 2009, followed by sluggish growth of 2.5 percent in 2010, but […]
Sri Lanka industrial production up 2.2-pct in June
Sept 26, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s private sector industrial production rose 2.2 percent in in June 2009, from a year earlier, with food, wood products showing an upturn and apparels bottoming out, official data showed. Rubber goods production was down 3.2 percent. Cement was up 1.6 percent (down 14.1 percent in May) and building […]
Sri Lanka economists debate currency board systems
Sept 26, 2009 (LBO) – The virtues of a currency board system were hotly debated at an annual confab of top economists in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo, as the island emerged from its latest balance of payments crisis caused by an unstable peg. Sri Lanka was exposed to balance of payments crises after 1950 when […]