Category: Economy and Markets
Sri Lanka foreign reserves top US$4.0bn
Sept 15, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s gross foreign reserves have topped 4.0 billion US dollars on September 10, the highest in the island’s history, the Central Bank said. The Central Bank also acquired dollars by directly swapping domestic assets to a foreign fund manager. The central bank started to collect foreign reserves after floating […]
Sri Lankan stocks down 0.85-pct on profit taking
Sep 15, 2009 (LBO) – A rally in Sri Lanka share prices that lifted them to a 30-month high skidded to a halt Tuesday as retail investors took profits from an overheating market, brokers said.The benchmark Colombo All Share Price Index (ASPI) closed down 0.85 percent (24.26 points) to end at 2,837.99, while the Milanka […]
Sri Lankan 2009-end inflation to be 6.0-pct: Statistics office
Sept 15, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s year-end consumer inflation measured by a revised Colombo Consumer Price Index is estimated to be 6.0 percent by December, and seasonally adjusted number even lower, the government’s statistics office said. The United States has reported a negative 2.1 percent inflation for July and hard pegged Hong Kong, which […]
‘s level in August: Treasury official
Sept 15, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state revenues for August had reached last year’s level in line with a recovery in import trade and domestic economic activities, and is expected to show a positive growth in this month, an official said. “In August we have reached break-even level and we are expecting revenues will […]
Sri Lanka sells US41mn 3-year bonds
Sept 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has sold 41 million US dollars of 3-year dollar denominated bonds rolling over 35 million US dollars of maturing 2-year debt, the government’s debt office said.The dollar bonds are aimed at domestic investors including banks who are eligible to hold dollar assets. The bonds, labeled Sri Lanka Development […]
Sri Lanka economic bubble triggered by financial repression for deficits: economist
Sept 14, 2009 (LBO) – Severe financial repression and money printing to finance post-2004 deficits triggered a housing and credit bubble and drove savers to seek higher rates in unregistered financial institutions, an economist has said.“These macro-economic imbalances set the stage for bubbles in the economy,” R M B Senanayake, vice president of the Sri […]
Sri Lanka GDP expands 2.1-pct in second quarter
Sept 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economy expanded 2.1 percent in the second quarter of 2009 from 7.0 percent a year earlier, but was up from the 1.5 percent growth in the first quarter, the government’s statistics office said. Agriculture Agriculture grew 4.4 percent despite an 11.7 percent reversal in tea which was hit […]
Sri Lanka shares hit new high, seen over-valued
Sep 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares hit a 30-month high Monday as bullish investor’s placed bets on financial and healthcare sector stocks, brokers said.The benchmark Colombo All Share Price Index (ASPI) closed up 0.77 percent (21.92 points) to end at 2,862.25, while the Milanka index of liquid stocks gained 0.49 percent (15.66 points) […]
”: economist
Sep 12, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tendency to follow policies that hurt the average voter and makes the country lag behind other countries is due to ‘political market failure’ where small groups push policy without evidence, a senior economist said. “This is one of the most literate and educated populations in the world,” Shantanayan […]
Sri Lanka to bond deal draw top investment banks
Sept 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is getting closer to choosing managers for a 500 million US dollar bond with top names in the international investment banking circuit making presentations to the island’s authorities. Sri Lanka has been attracting the attention of big international names of late, more than a billion US dollars pouring […]
Sri Lanka gets US$75mn World Bank credit for villages
Sept 11, 2009 (LBO) – The World Bank has approved a 75 million US dollar credit for village infrastructure development in Sri Lanka to expand its ‘Gemi Diriya’ project, the multilateral lender said.It has mobilized resources by promoting savings and village credit, and by linking communities to financial institutions and the private sector. Gemi Diriya […]
Sri Lanka Central Bank cuts policy interest rates by 50bp
Sept 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank said it had decided to reduce policy interest rates by 50 basis points each from Friday with the repurchase rate to be 8.00 percent and reverse repurchase rate 10.50 percent. It said in a statement its Monetary Board decided to cut rates as inflation was low […]