Category: Economy

May 21, 2007 (LBO) – Though Sri Lanka’s inflation will continue to fall with tight monetary policy, there may be spikes due to administered price rises and seasonal factors, the Central Bank has warned. Sri Lanka’s inflation has come down steadily since the Central Bank virtually halted money printing to finance the budget deficit, but […]

SHUNEH, Jordan, May 19, 2007 (AFP) – Heads of state and representatives of 11 developing countries meet in Jordan on Saturday to draw up a platform of cooperation with the G8 industrialised nations and bolster multilateral trade.The G11 summit grouping Croatia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Georgia, Honduras, Indonesia, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay and Sri Lanka meets […]

HARARE,, May 17, 2007 (AFP) – Zimbabwe’s annual inflation surged to 3,714 percent in April, ahead of a new pricing and incomes law approved by President Robert Mugabe in a fresh bid to rein in the inflation spiral. “The… annual inflation rate at the end of April rose to 3,713.9 percent,” the state-run Herald newspaper […]

May 17, 2007 (LBO) – The Tamil Tiger guerilla air wing will bear losses before the year-end as the military gains technology and experience to counter the little intruders, a former Sri Lanka air force commander said. Related Third Dimension: Sri Lanka’s battle for air supremacy and the Tamil Tiger ‘Bedcheck Charlie’ strategy . The […]

COLOMBO, May 16, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka recorded a trade deficit of 659.5 million dollars in the first quarter, but foreign remittances pushed the overall balance of payments into positive territory, the central bank said Wednesday.Sri Lanka’s exports in the first three months of 2007 earned 1.71 billion dollars while imports cost 2.37 billion […]

May 15, 2007 (LBO) –Sri Lanka is keen on attracting investments in sectors such as agro and metal industries, the island’s minister of investment promotion, Sarath Amunugama, said Tuesday. He was speaking at a function at the Board of Investment where some 600 million dollars worth of investment deals were signed with local and foreign […]

May 11, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s construction industry is seeking to export professional services and eyeing opportunities in the building boom in the Middle East and south Asia, a senior official said. “We want to support the bigger players to go out of the country and do projects abroad – in the Middle East […]

DHAKA, May 10, 2007 (AFP) – Bangladesh’s sixth mobile phone operator, Warid Telecom, launched operations Thursday aiming to grab a slice of one of the world’s fastest growing markets, an official said. Owned by the Gulf-based Abu Dhabi Group, Warid Telecom, is counting on five million subscribers in the first year of its operation, company […]

May 09, 2007 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Treasury bill auction rates eased with the key three month weighed average slipping 4 basis points to 16.52 percent at Wednesday’s auction. The six month weighted average yield slipped 3 basis points to 16.33 percent while the one year fell 4 basis points to 16.15. Meanwhile the […]

May 8, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank says there is no ‘shortage’ of coins in the country, and a campaign to bring back coins into circulation has been mis-understood by the public. Authorities started a campaign to persuade children to break their piggy banks and exchange coins for notes and a 20 percent […]

May 7, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Monday shrugged off Britain’s suspension of debt relief to the island, saying the amount of money was “too insignificant” to worry about. Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama declined to discuss the move to stop nearly three million dollars in aid, but said it was “wrong” for London to hold […]

May 8, 2007 (LBO) Sri Lanka’s fight against inflation has received a set-back with monetary authorities unable to sterilize excess liquidity in the banking system which is now reaching towards one percent of gross domestic product.Excess liquidity in the banking system reached 22 billion rupees, reminiscent of the ‘bad old days’ of 2004 and 2006 […]