Category: Economy and Markets
Sri Lanka credit-default swaps start trading after bond sale
Oct 18, 2007 (LBO) –Credit-default swaps tied to Sri Lanka’s debt started trading Thursday after the government sold 500 million dollars in bonds to foreign investors for the first time, Bloomberg newswire reported. Five-year contracts used to speculate on the South Asian nation’s ability to repay debt were quoted at 375 basis points as of […]
Sri Lanka says debut bond issue three times oversubscribed
Oct 18, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Thursday said the government’s first international sovereign bond issue of 500 million dollars was more than three times oversubscribed.The bonds have a five-year maturity and a coupon of 8.25 percent per annum, the bank statement said. The issue carries a “junk bond” or below investment grade […]
Sri Lanka trade fair draws foreign interest
Oct 18, 2007 (LBO) – Trade delegations from 12 countries have already confirmed their participation at IMEXPRO 2008, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said Thursday. The event is an international import – export promotion fair to be held from 14-16 February 2008 in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, it said in a statement. The Ceylon […]
Sri Lanka mulls introducing derivatives contracts
Oct 16, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s financial sector has been advised to exercise caution in launching derivatives which are yet new instruments in the island.Derivatives are useful financial instruments that help manage risks and give depth to financial markets, Indian experts said. But designing and launching derivatives instruments can be tricky and two-thirds of […]
Sri Lanka country-wide inflation rockets to 21%
Oct 12, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s country-wide inflation has rocketed to 21 percent in July 2007 even as authorities derided a more widely watched price index that measures prices in the capital Colombo as being outdated. In July the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) only showed a 17.6 percent increase over the previous 12-months […]
Sri Lanka gross borrowings to rise by Rs85bn next year
Oct 10, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will have to borrow 740 billion rupees in 2008, to bridge the budget deficit and roll-over existing debt in 2008, a bill put before lawmakers this week showed. Last year the government got parliamentary nod to raise 655 billion rupees but lack of cheap concessional debt has pushed […]
Sri Lanka opposition says Fitch Ratings wrong, insists on defaulting bond
Oct 10, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party (UNP) said an assessment by a rating agency that a future administration run by the party would repay a sovereign bond that is now being marketed is wrong and insisted that it would default. The UNP has said the attempt to raise around […]
S&” rating confirmed
Oct 09, 2007 (LBO) – Standard and Poor’s has confirmed Sri Lanka’s B+ sovereign rating on the eve of a maiden global bond offer, but warned that excessive commercial borrowing could reduce support for the rating. Fitch Ratings had given the bond a BB- rating, a notch higher than S&P but with a negative outlook. […]
Fitch gives Sri Lanka sovereign bond BB- rating; warns against bad budgets and war
Oct 08, 2007 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has given a speculative BB- rating for Sri Lanka’s upcoming sovereign bond but warned that a worsening conflict could cause a credit downgrade and called for lower inflation and better budgets. “Steering inflation back down to single digits will be essential for sustaining strong economic growth and containing […]
” bond: Fitch
Oct 08, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s opposition United National Party is not expected to “willfully default” a proposed 500 million dollar sovereign bond if the party comes power in the future, Fitch Ratings has said. The 500 million dollar proposed bond ran into controversy after UNP leader and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said […]
Sri Lanka starts selling sovereign bond
Oct 08, 2007, (LBO) – Sri Lanka is starting road shows in a number of financial centres to sell its maiden sovereign bond with teams from the finance ministry and central bank already having left the island, officials said. The government said in July that the it was hoping to raise 500 million dollars through […]
Rocketing Sri Lanka prices prompt calls for inflation targeting
Oct 06, 2007 (LBO) – The overshooting of a self-declared Central Bank 10 percent inflation target for 2007 is strengthening the case for reforming the institution and bringing legislated inflation targeting to Sri Lanka. . In January 2007 the Central Bank issued a monetary policy road map promising to debauch the internal value of the […]