Category: Economy and Markets
Sri Lanka treasury yields up again
Sept 25, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s benchmark 3- month treasury yields went up 15 basis points to 18.20 with the cut-off pushing 18.30 percent dealers said, as authorities struggled to stabilize an economy hit by heavy government spending. Meanwhile 6-month yields went up 15 basis points to 17.47 percent and the 12-month went up […]
Sri Lanka opposition renews warning on sovereign bond
Sept 24, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s opposition has renewed its warning that a planned sovereign bond has no parliamentary sanction and a future government made up of the current opposition will “cancel” the bond. The opposition United National Party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe had warned HSBC Bank, a joint lead manager of the bond deal, […]
Sri Lanka needs sensible monetary and fiscal policies: IMF report
Sept 22, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka needs sensible fiscal and monetary policies and less fiscal dominance of the economy, a new report by the International Monetary Fund has said. The government is now expecting full year growth to be between 6 and 7 percent this year. The discussion paper by IMF researchers called for […]
Sri Lanka downgrades official growth forecast
Sept 21, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has downgraded its economic growth forecast to between six and seven percent for 2007 as a fast growing public sector and a budget deficit that pushed interest rates up, dragged the island down. “Last year it was 7.4 percent this year it will be certainly higher than 6 […]
Sri Lanka tax office clearing tarnished reputation, says official
Sept 21, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tax department is slowly regaining its reputation which had been tarnished by a tax scam and complaints of bullying tax payers, the island’s top Treasury official said Friday. “The image of the Inland Revenue Department is changing from being 100 percent bad to being slightly positive,” Treasury Secretary […]
Sri Lanka minister block queries over pension fund losses; new questions emerge
Sept 20, 2007 (LBO) – A government minister blocked reporters from questioning officials about real losses made by a pension fund of private sector workers, as disturbing new information about its management in state hands continued to emerge. The Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), Sri Lanka’s largest pension fund, is estimated to have made a 37 […]
Sri Lanka opposition accuses govt of misusing public funds
Sept 19, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe Wednesday accused the government of illegally channeling state funds to a new budget airline and a bank.He said the right of the Parliament to control public finances is a fundamental principle of democracy. The transfer of funds to set up the new state-owned budget […]
Sri Lanka central bank says narrow trade gap is good for rupee
Sept 19, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank says a recent fall of the rupee is not in line with a narrowing of the trade gap, as the rupee dipped to a new low Wednesday but closed firmer. The bank said exports have grown 15.8 percent and the trade gap had narrowed to 1,806 […]
Sri Lanka trade deficit narrows in July, import growth slows
Sept 18, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s trade deficit has narrowed in July with oil imports slowing and exports growing by 33.9 percent, the Central Bank said Tuesday. Exports had grown to 690 million US dollars in July 2007 against 516 million US dollars in July. “The persistently strong demand for apparel has continued to […]
Sri Lanka rupee edges lower on state name buying
Sept 18, 2007 (LBO) – Strong buying interest from a state name that usually represent government accounts pushed the rupee lower in late afternoon trading with deals done at 113.60 against the greenback, dealers said. Sri Lanka’s cash markets have been tight with some market participants were seen generating rupees through dollar swaps. The rupee […]
Sri Lanka busts US$250mn to prop up exchange rate
Sept 17, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has spent more than 200 million US dollars to prop up the rupee during the past four months in an intervention campaign analysts say helped worsen exchange and demand pressure. There are fears among some market analysts, that if the bond price is manipulated it will give opportunities […]
Sri Lanka struggling to reach inflation target: economist
Sept 16, 2007 (LBO) – A World Bank economist said Sri Lanka should trim the budget deficit if it wanted to achieve eight percent economic growth and monetary policy should be tightened to reduce inflation. All this will take its toll on future growth. “Unfortunately I think policy makers are not quite clear about what […]