Category: Economy and Markets
Sri Lanka central bank suppressing interest rates: researcher
May 05, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank is keeping interest rates suppressed and below the inflation rate to reduce government borrowing costs and maintain a high growth rate that presents a ‘rosy’ picture, a researcher says. “Galloping inflation is also due to suppression of the interest rate by the government,” says Muttukrishna Sarvananthan, […]
Sri Lanka central bank responds to IMF letter
May 05, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank, which earlier protested an International Monetary Fund study on external impacts on inflation, has welcomed comments by a top IMF official based on results which were further disaggregated. Sri Lanka has been buffeted by chronic high inflation and balance of payments crises since a central bank […]
Sri Lankan shares edge up on SLT, Carsons
May 05, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s shares closed marginally higher with retail interest in Sri Lanka Telecom and Carsons pushing indices higher, brokers said Monday.The All Share Price Index closed up 0.47 percent (12.49 points) at 2,648.23 points while the more liquid Milanka index closed 0.48 percent (15.69 points) higher at 3,250.99. State-owned fixed […]
Sri Lankan shares becalmed; Lanka Cement up
May 02, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed virtually flat Friday in thin trading with Lanka Cement, which has been moving on speculative trading, ending firmer, brokers said. The All Share Price Index was barely changed, up just 2.78 points (0.11 percent) to 2,635.74 while the more liquid Milanka index fell 1.98 points (0.06 […]
IMF welcomes Sri Lanka monetary and fiscal tightening; clarifies external shock study
May 02, 2008 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund says it backs moves by Sri Lanka’s central bank to tighten monetary policy as well as ‘economically correct but politically difficult’ decisions by the island to reduce fuel and food subsidies. The head of IMF’s Asia Department David Burton says a recent IMF working paper on […]
Sri Lanka govt running out of time to fix economy: study
May 02, 2008 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government is running out of time to fix the economy, with inflation out of control and other economic fundamentals steadily deteriorating, a new research paper on the economy says. With the regime of President Mahinda Rajapakse nearing its half term (by November 2008) and the parliamentary election […]
Sri Lanka signs up more money to broaden highway
May 01, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has signed up additional funds to augment a highway to the south of the island which is jointly financed by the Asian Development Bank and the Japan, the finance ministry said. The 90 million dollar supplementary loan will finance a 29.3 kilometre stretch on the Southern Highway starting […]
Sri Lanka gets Dutch aid to build big fisheries harbour
May 01, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has signed a deal with the Netherlands government to get eight billion rupees (44.9 million euro) in aid to build a fisheries harbour to accommodate deep sea trawlers and develop the island’s fishing industry. The port will be built in Dikowita on the western coast, fisheries minister Felix […]
Sri Lankan shares flat; Dockyard, Lanka Cement draw interest
April 30, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed virtually flat Wednesday with some interest in Colombo Dockyard and Lanka Cement, brokers said.The All Share Price Index was barely changed, up just 1.95 points (0.07 percent) to 2,632.96 while the more liquid Milanka index fell 2.35 points (0.07 percent) to 3,237.28. Turnover was 212 million […]
Federal Reserve under fire as commodity bubble wreaks chaos; WSJ says Bernanke addicted to printing
April 30, 2008 (LBO) – The Federal Reserve money printing that has fired a commodity bubble causing malnutrition and food riots in poor countries is increasingly coming under fire, with mainstream media adding their voice to a growing flood of critics. After the sub-prime bubble started to unravel last July the Fed has cut rates […]
Sri Lanka Sinhala news service, central bank talks economics online
April 28, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s pioneer Unicode Sinhala news portal, Vimasuma.com and the Central Bank has teamed up to produce a series of educational discussions targeted at economics students and the public. The multimedia discussion series which can be viewed online at www.vimasuma.com is aimed at economics teachers, students of economics and others […]
Sri Lanka central bank says will maintain tight policy
April 30, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank will continue to maintain tight monetary policy to cope with the current economic turmoil, uncertainty and high prices, a senior official said. “Monetary policy will continue to be tight,” said Ranee Jayamaha, deputy governor of the Central Bank said Wednesday. “The exchange rate and the interest […]