Category: Policy
Ailing rupee and price controls may lead to a shortage of milk powder: Advocata
Jan 17, 2019 (LBO) – A cup of tea is every Sri Lankan’s morning mantra. This might not be the case much longer as Sri Lanka may face a shortage of milk powder as several leading milk powder importers are reported to have taken a collective decision to suspend imports. The recent depreciation of the rupee […]
Sri Lanka Govt., IMF talks to start
Jan 14, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera led delegation arrived in Washington, Sunday for talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In a twitter message the Finance Minister said that he plans to put the US 1.5 billion dollar Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program back on track. “Arrived in DC with @MangalaLK […]
FM to meet IMF Managing Director in Washington on IMF Fund Facility
Jan 09, 2019 (LBO) – Minister Mangala Samaraweera will leave for Washington on Friday, to get the IMF External Fund Facility (EFF) back on track, the Finance Ministry said. The ministry said in a statement that the minister will be meeting Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, Mitsuhiro Furusawa, Deputy Managing Director, Chanyong Rhee, Director, Asia Pacific Department, Manuel Goretti, […]
Reserve Bank of India agrees to provide USD400mn SWAP to Central Bank
Jan 09, 2019 (LBO) – Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has agreed to provide 400 million US dollars to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka under its SAARC SWAP facility which will boost the reserves in the country. Sri Lanka’s Central Bank said in a statement that they have also requested a further bilateral SWAP […]
Sri Lanka Budget 2019: Targets public revenue to increase 17-pct, Debt to GDP down to 70-pct
Jan 07, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Finance Ministry says Budget 2019 will increase public revenue to 17 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while capital expenditure will be limited to 3.5 percent of GDP. It will also target maintaining the debt-to-GDP ratio to just 70 percent with recurrent expenditure cut down to 15 percent […]
Financial sector regulators sign MoU for consolidated risk-based supervision
Jan 04, 2019 (LBO) – The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) and the Insurance Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (IRCSL) on 31 December 2018 at CBSL, to conduct effective consolidated risk-based supervision and for CBSL to be the […]
Sri Lanka Central Bank maintains policy interest rates at current levels
Dec 28, 2018 (LBO) – Monetary Board of the Central Bank has decided to maintain policy interest rates at their current levels with the broad aim of stabilizing inflation at mid-single-digit levels in the medium term to enable the economy to achieve its potential growth. Accordingly, the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and Standing Lending Facility Rate […]
Benefits of global oil price reduction should be passed on to people: Fin Min
Dec 26, 2018 (LBO) – As a result of the price formula introduced by the Government, the price of petrol and diesel has been reduced by Rs.30 and Rs.20 per litre respectively when compared with the last price increase on October 10, 2018. Therefore the Government stresses that the bus fares and the charges in the […]
Sri Lanka Cabinet approves funds for 2019 first quarter
Nov 28, 2018 (LBO) – The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a proposal to present a Vote on Account in order to secure provisions for 2019 first quarter. Accordingly the cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs to present a proposal […]
‘s political crisis puts IMF loan negotiations on hold
Nov 21, 2018 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan facility to Sri Lanka, approved in mid-2016, has been put on hold due to the islands prevailing political crisis, a foreign media report said. I The IMF approved the loan facility on the condition of comprehensive economic reforms. Speaking to media two weeks before the […]
Sri Lanka growth expected to recover to 4 – 4.5-pct in 2019: CB Gov
Nov 15, 2018 (LBO) – There are some positive signs with FDI and exports probably going to be record numbers this year and we envisage Sri Lanka’s growth to be somewhere between 4 -4.5 percent for 2019, the Central Bank Governor said. Growth is expected to remain below envisaged levels in 2018. As per the […]
Central Bank reduced Statutory Reserve Ratio & increased policy interest rates
Nov 14, 2018 (LBO) – Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, at its meeting held on 13 November 2018, has decided to reduce the Statutory Reserve Ratio (SRR) applicable on all rupee deposit liabilities of commercial banks by 1.50 percentage points to 6.00 percent. In order to neutralize the impact of this reduction […]