Category: Economy and Markets
Sri Lanka sees revenue improving with strong tax effort
July 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said it expects government revenue collection to improve later this year, despite the downturn in the first few months, through better collection, a new Nation Building Tax and reduced tax holidays.The government is committed to increasing tax revenue by at least two percent of GDP by […]
Sri Lankan stocks up
July 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares made further gains Monday as selected blue chips like Commercial Bank, Dialog Telekom and Distilleries pushed indices up, brokers said. People’s Leasing mopped up most of the floating Seylan Merchant Leasing shares on a mandatory offer. The benchmark Colombo All Share Price Index (ASPI) closed up 1.44 […]
Sri Lanka keeps back IMF technical MOU
July 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has not released the technical memorandum of understanding between the government and the International Monetary Fund, taking a step back from the level of transparency established earlier.Sri Lanka’s central bank has published a letter of intent (LOI) and a memorandum of economic and financial policies (MEFP) relating to […]
Sri Lanka IMF supported budget implies tight second half
July 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s IMF supported budget for 2009 implies a more credible revenue target, maintaining nominal capital expenditure at previous year’s levels in an economy that is inflating less, initial analysis shows.Sri Lanka’s runaway budgets were the underlying reason for the balance of payments crisis last year. IMF said short term […]
Sri Lanka central bank to clean up data act under IMF program
July 26, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank will improve data reporting following the approval of a 2.6 billion US dollar facility by the International Monetary Fund, a loan document released by the monetary authority said. IMF sent a ‘safeguards assessment’ mission to the central bank in May to ensure that its funds could […]
Sri Lanka IMF program a framework for donor support: mission chief
July 26, 2009 (LBO) – A 20-month International Monetary Fund backed economic plan will boost Sri Lanka’s reserves and provide a framework for donors to back post-war reconstruction, an official who led the mission to the island said. Though an immediate priority of the government was providing relief to refugees, reconstruction needs would grow over […]
Sri Lanka gets US$2.6bn from IMF on tight budget, rupee flexibility
July 25, 2009 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund has approved a 2.6 billion US dollar loan to Sri Lanka with a 322 million dollar tranche being immediately disbursed on a program that is aiming to keep the budget deficit at 7.0 percent of the economy. The IMF said a combination of short term foreign […]
Sri Lankan stocks up 4.0-pct during week
July 24, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares gained on Friday as foreign investors pushed up trading volumes especially on selected blue chips such as John Keells Holdings (JKH) and banking counters, brokers said.Dialog Telekom a unit of Telekom Malaysia closed flat at 5.25 rupees. “Further improvement in activity level was seen due to the […]
Sri Lanka shares slightly weaker, Lanka Cement up
July 23, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares ended slightly weaker Thursday with a cement firm in which foreign multinationals are interested being actively traded, along with a property company, brokers said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 The All Share Price Index fell 0.19 […]
Sri Lanka international airport plans expansion
July 23, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s sole international airprot has plans to expand further if traffic grows beyond existing capacity with the end of a three decade internal war, a senior official said. But he said in the post-war environment demand for aviation will grow. “Aviation is very sensitive to war and also very […]
Sri Lanka has permitted IMF to publish bailout program: minister
July 23, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has authorized the International Monetary Fund to publish its stand by loan agreement with the island, after it is approved by the lender’s executive board Friday, international trade minister Gamini Pieris said.Under the new stand by arrangement Sri Lanka’s central bank will have access to 2.5 billion US […]
‘s aging population presents risks, opportunities
July 23, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s rapidly aging population could be a big burden in future but also provides a window of opportunity – a time of massive productive labour force and low dependents, a report said.Sri Lanka is the fastest aging country in south Asia, with the elderly population posing many challenges, according […]