Category: Economy and Markets

June 07, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s should trim redundant ministries, increase wages for senior officials and be more transparent to help propel the country forward, the US envoy in Colombo said. The CIMA business leaders’ summit will discuss how good, mediocre or bad companies can make the leap to be great companies. “Reduce the […]

June 07, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka plans to accelerate and broaden its development activities despite the internal conflict, the island’s president said Wednesday, as an expanding budget deficit threatened to undermine growth this year. We need to fearlessly combat terrorism and develop without making it an excuse, President Mahinda Rajapakse said in a statement […]

June 06, 2007 (LBO) – The Commercial Bank of Ceylon says it is broadened the availability of forex hedging products, allowing even individuals to use them in addition to large corporates and small and medium businesses. These products will also help customers to diversify their cash investment portfolios, Commercial Bank’s Head of Global Treasury, Dula […]

June 06, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Finance Ministry has disputed a report by the auditor-general that weak collections led to a revenue loss of 360 billion rupees. The loss, it said in its annual report for 2006, was not more than 6.2 billion rupees of which half related to the VAT refund fraud which […]

June 04, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has reached its reserve money target for May with several billion rupees to spare, indicating that inflation will continue to move down in the future, the Central Bank said. “The achievement of reserve money targets will lead to the continuous deceleration of the growth in broad money and […]

SINGAPORE, June 3, 2007 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels are a threat to shipping in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka’s foreign minister told a regional security conference Sunday in an appeal for global action against the guerrilla group. Rohitha Bogollagama said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were one of the few “terrorist organisations” […]

June 2, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Saturday it would not allow trucks coming from rebel-held areas in the northeast into Colombo after police claimed to have discovered explosives destined for the city in a goods carrier.Residents in areas bordering rebel-held Wanni in the northeast were told not to send trucks south after police […]

CHENNAI, India, June 1, 2007 (AFP) – India is urging Sri Lanka not to buy weapons from China and Pakistan to fight Tamil rebels, New Delhi’s national security advisor said. “We are the big power in the region.It is very clear,” M. K. Narayanan told reporters Thursday evening. “Whatever their requirements, they (Sri Lanka) should […]

June 1, 2007 (AFP) – France on Friday gave Sri Lanka a 10 million euro (13.4 million dollar) loan to develop its construction industry and rebuild areas hit by the December 2004 tsunami, the finance ministry said. The money will be channelled through local banks to help contractors buy equipment and for their working capital […]

June 01, 2007 (LBO) – A large budget deficit is a fiscal time bomb, and central bank attempts to stabilize the economy may not work unless support comes from fiscal discipline, a British economics don has said. “In the end, no matter how successfully the central bank tries to maintain financial and monetary stability, if […]

June 1, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president offered to open peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels on Friday even as security forces were locked in combat with the guerrillas. President Mahinda Rajapakse would enter negotiations with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) if they agreed to resume where they left off in October […]

May 31, 2007 (AFP) – One of the world’s biggest solid tyre makers is trying to double its turnover and turn Sri Lanka into a key exporter of rubber products. “People keep asking us if its safe to live here, invest here and I say ‘yes’.We have had no problems. There are always risks associated […]