Category: Economy

Government plans to set up 14 Oversight Committees to look over key state functions is on track, with proposals going to parliament in a few weeks. ldblquote The proposals for the oversight committees are now ready and will be presented in parliament in the coming weeks dblquote , Enterprise Development Minister G.L Peiris said Thursday.rn […]

The Finance Minister said last week that fiscal targets were on track in his first Fiscal Position Report. The Government said that privatisation proceeds were expected to be higher than the estimated Rs.13.5 bn. rn rnAn upbeat finance minister told the media a few days ago that the governments fiscal program was on track despite […]

Sri Lankas top trade chamber has commended the government on pushing ahead with a series of legislative reforms, but said more work needs to be done to implement policy reforms.In its annual balance scorecard on the governments 2003 budget, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) says the government has made some effort to reform sectors […]

ADB on Wednesday approved a technical assistance (TA) grant of US$800,000 to pilot test two community information networks that will bring vital information to the poor and disabled in two districts of Sri Lanka. The grant, from ADBs Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund, will establish the networks to link district offices, schools, training institutes, job placement […]

Limited energy supply could hinder a so far promising economic recovery over the next few years, Central Bank officials warned today.rn rnldblquote If the economy continues to grow at a healthy pace, we are concerned as to where the power will come from to sustain it, with emergency power also coming to an end by […]

The Value Added Tax continues to disappoint with revenues again falling short of expectations, with rising refunds eating away at collection.ldblquote Refunds under the of input credit under GST/VAT has increased from 12 per cent in 2002 to 14 per cent in 2003, dblquote Finance Minister K N Choksy said making his comments on the […]

The Sri Lankan economy grew by 5.5 percent in the first quarter of 2003, up sharply from growth of 0.1 percent in the same period last year, Finance Minister K N Choksy said Monday. “All the main sectors of the economy showed resilience and greater output,” Choksy said making his comments when releasing the governments […]

Danish authorities on Tuesday signed a development co-operation agreement to fund a multitude of projects yet to be identified.rnrnThe fresh aid facility will be in addition to the US$ 22 mn pledged at the Tokyo donor conference in mid June and will provide financial, technical and material resources for projects.rn rnFinance Ministry officials insist that […]

Independent reviews of public sector accounts will take off in July, in line with ongoing reforms to revamp the public sector to be accountable and transparent.ldblquote Currently public enterprises are reviewed by the Public Enterprises Committee that has no secretarial expertise and no time to review about 225 public enterprises dblquote , says V. Kanagasabapathy, […]

Banking stocks stole the market Thursday, with National Development Bank and NDB Bank (NBL) netting 50 percent of the Rs. 457.21 mn in total turnover. Brokers say NBL accounted for 28 percent or 127 mn and NDB 22 percent of total volumes traded.rn rnldblquote Investors are seeing value in NDB stocks even at current levels […]

The World Bank Wednesday approved the first tranche of US$ 125 mn in support credit, to shore up the countrys poverty reduction strategy.rnrn The Poverty Reduction Support Credit (PRSC) will build on the framework in the lquote Regaining Sri Lanka vision for accelerated development.rn rnThe support credit comes on the back of government success in […]

Cash rich National Savings Bank (NSB) bought up Rs.200 million worth of securitised paper last week, locking its returns for up to five years.rn Ceylease and Peoples Merchant Bank (PMB) issued the lease-backed securities in a bid to finance increased demand for leases and to diversify fund sources.rn rnPeoples Merchant bank also structured and placed […]