Category: Economy and Markets
Sri Lanka budget deficit projected at 6.5-pct of economy
Nov 06, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka raised trade barriers and cut neutral value added taxes in its 2009 budget which is projected to have a deficit of 336 billion rupees or 6.5 percent of gross domestic product. Revenues were estimated at an optimistic 855 billion rupees, though the island failed to meet the original […]
Sri Lanka shares up on thin volumes, plantations rally
Nov 05, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares continued their rise, Wednesday, on thin trading volumes with plantations stocks rallying on retail investor interest, but a full recovery of the market was likely to be slow, brokers said. There was a single crossing of Chevron Lubricants Lanka of 182,500 shares done at 105 rupees. To […]
Sri Lanka bond markets tight amid foreign selling
Oct 05, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka sold 2-year bonds maturing in September 2010 in an auction Tuesday at an average of 20.43 percent, a day after bonds maturing in April 2010 were traded at 22.00 percent amid foreign selling, dealers said. The September 2010 bond was last auctioned also at 20.34 percent on October […]
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Oct Nov 04, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party has revealed a sunshine ‘budget’ promising massive salary increases to the public sector and reductions in fuel prices, indicating an emerging political consensus on economic populism. UNP is also claiming to improve prices for commodity producers through trade agreements and extend GSP+ […]
Sri Lanka shares maintain upward swing, trading thin
Nov 04, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares maintained their upward momentum, Tuesday, but the low volume of trading raised doubts whether the upswing would last as the earnings outlook remained bleak, brokers said.The upswing began last week after the Colombo bourse slumped to a three and a half year low. Associated Motorways has asked […]
Sri Lanka grey market dollar rate up; CB bill stock Rs89.5bn
Nov 04, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s grey market rate for US dollars has spiked sharply as the central bank continued to intervene in forex markets and print money to prevent a contraction in the monetary base, putting pressure on the rupee. In the grey market in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo, US dollars are trading […]
Sri Lanka defence, subsidy costs overshoot ahead of next budget
Nov 03, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s budget for 2009 will focus on keeping a military campaign on track while also providing resources to build infrastructure, though expenses in the current budget have overshot targets, a government minister has said. Junior finance minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya told ETV’s Lanka Business Report show that managing the 2008 […]
Sri Lanka shares sustain gains
Nov 03, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares ended higher for the fourth day running, Monday, sustaining the gains made last week in what appears to be an improvement in investor sentiment, brokers said. Sri Lanka Telecom rose one rupee to 40 rupees while Distilleries Company rose over nine percent (4.75 rupees) to end at […]
Sri Lanka central bank T-bill stock spikes to Rs77bn; new peg Rs110
Nov 02, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka central bank’s Treasury bills stock rose to 77 billion rupees two days after the monetary authority broke a peg with the US dollar but failed to establish a clean float of the currency, the latest data shows.On Thursday a peg at 108.00 rupees to the US dollar was […]
Sri Lanka bad budgets, hot borrowings, dollar peg has endangered economy: IMF
Nov 01, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has to change its ways to protect itself from the negative effects of bad budgets, foreign borrowings, and a ‘de facto’ dollar peg of the rupee, the International Monetary Fund has said. The IMF’s executive directors, in an annual assessment of the island, said the economy and the […]
Sri Lanka central bank puts curbs on forex market
Oct 06, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’ central bank has tightened limits on overnight trading positions of commercial banks, imposed penal interest rates on exporter financing and raised deposit limits on import letters of credit, officials said. The rules were last used in 2001 when Sri Lanka floated the rupee following currency crisis created by […]
‘s inflation eases to 20.2-pct
Oct 31, 2008 (LBO) – Consumer inflation in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo fell to 20.2 percent in the 12-months to October from 24.3 percent a month ago, the central bank said. On Thursday the central bank broke its peg with the US dollar and the rupee fell by two rupees, but on Friday it continued […]