Category: Economy and Markets
Sri Lanka property firm says real estate is a sound buy
Sept 15, 2007 (LBO) – A top Sri Lankan property developer says real estate is a sound investment because house prices do not fall, and construction costs goes up rather than down. The Ceylinco group says the property market has been a shock absorber to act as a hedge against inflation and other economic concerns […]
Sri Lanka cuts growth forecast for 2007: report
Sept 15, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has cut the economic growth forecast for 2007 to 7.0 percent from an earlier 7.5 percent, a report said days after the government’s statistics office released the latest growth numbers. Sri Lanka’s economic expansion slowed to 6.2 percent in the first half of 2007 from a […]
Sri Lanka statistician propounds new theory; takes on central bankers
Sept 14, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s top statisticians put forward a new theory on exchange rates and took on the central bank governor and Fed chairman Ben Bernanke in a bid to explain rising inflation with long discredited failed ideas. . Hidden Theory Questioned by journalists about the falling Sri Lanka rupee, especially at […]
Sri Lanka bond yields plummet; rupee at new record low
Sept 14, 2007 (LBO) – Foreign names bought into a popular rupee bond sending yields crashing down and raising fears of manipulation Friday, while the Sri Lanka currency closed at a new low against the greenback with deals done at 113.40 rupees, dealers said. The rupee which opened at 113.30/32 in spot trade closed at […]
Sri Lanka economy slows to 6.2% in 1H2007
Sept 13, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economy expanded 6.4 percent in the second quarter clocking up a 6.2 percent growth for the first half, coming off record highs in 2006, the government’s statistics office said. The growth in gross domestic product (GDP) has slowed compared to an expansion of 7.8 percent in the first […]
Sri Lanka dollar bond transparency queried
Sept 13, 2007 (LBO) – An international anti-corruption body has raised questions over a controversial sovereign bond issue by Sri Lanka as well as the role of the country’s central bank in it and has called for more transparency in the deal.Transparency International, releasing a discussion paper on the issue, also slammed the main opposition […]
Sri Lanka buffer zone forces fisher folk into other work: survey
Sept 12, 2007 (LBO) – A controversial buffer zone that banned re-building of homes of Sri Lankan victims near the coast after the December 2004 tsunami has forced fisher folk out of their traditional livelihood, a survey has found. “But there is urgent need to look around us not only look forward. There are still […]
Sri Lanka issues tsunami warning; magnitude revised to 8.2
Sept 12, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s department of meteorology has issued a tsunami warning to the country’s eastern, northern and southern coastal regions following an earthquake in Indonesia. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii issued a watch bulletin. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said if a tsunami is generated waves could reach Sri […]
Sri Lanka minister lashes out at inflation creators
Sept 11, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s consumer affairs minister, cornered by rising prices and a falling rupee caused by money printing, lashed out at a Marxist party that helped engineer a collapse of government finances. Except for a handful of years like 2003, the Sri Lanka rupee has been on a free fall since […]
Sri Lanka markets open after weekend, rupee flat
Sept 10, 2007 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka rupee was quoted at 113.25/28 flat against the spot dollar Monday with overnight call money peaking at 16.00 before easing to 14.00 percent in liquid conditions, dealers said. The six month forward dollar fell slightly to 120.95 levels from an earlier level of 121.11. Dealers were closely […]
Asia Pacific leaders close summit with trade plea
SYDNEY, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) – Key world leaders called Sunday for “urgent” efforts to salvage global talks on trade as they wrapped up a summit marked by unprecedented security and wrangling over a plan to tackle climate change. Representing 21 economies that account for nearly half the world’s trade, Asia Pacific leaders said it […]
Sri Lanka rupee firms in dull trading
Sept 07, 2007 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka rupee closed firmer at 113.25/28 against the greenback Friday, up from yesterday’s close of 113.27/32, dealers said. There were some swap deals in the market. A state name was also seen buying dollars, in what was a fairly dull Friday, dealers said. However there was liquidity in […]