Category: Economy
All possible measures are taken to ensure safety of deposits: CB Governor
Jun 07, 2020 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank assures the general public that it will continue to take all possible measures to ensure the safety of public deposits. Releasing a statement, the Governor of the Central Bank Professor W.D. Lakshman said that they remain committed to keeping the deposits of the general public safe […]
Economic Zone:A catalyst for modern services in Sri Lanka
Jun 03, 2020 (LBO) – The Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKI), is set to discuss the topic of “Port City Special Economic Zone– A Catalyst for Modern Services in Sri Lanka” on Thursday, 04 June 2020, during a webinar titled “Colombo Port City: Potential growth impact for Sri Lanka” hosted […]
‘s construction projects expected to pickup and stick to timelines:ICRA
Jun 3, 2020 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s construction sector is expected to demonstrate resilience compared to other economic sectors, a new report said. The construction projects are expected to gradually pickup pace and broadly stay within the original timelines, ICRA Lanka said. “Current domestic raw material production level and inventories are expected to sustain ongoing […]
Sri Lanka export earning drop 42.3-pct in Mar 2020
Jun 02, 2020 (LBO) – The deficit in the trade account narrowed in March 2020 to US dollars 549 million, from US dollars 592 million in March 2019, as the decline in imports in value terms exceeded the decline in exports, the Central Bank said. However, on a cumulative basis, the trade deficit widened to […]
Fitch recalibrates Sri Lanka National Rating Scale
May 28, 2020 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings says that it has recalibrated its Sri Lanka National Rating scale to reflect changes in the relative creditworthiness among Sri Lankan issuers following Fitch’s downgrade of the country’s sovereign rating to ‘B-‘ from ‘B’ on 24 April 2020. The Outlook on Sri Lanka’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating is […]
Sri Lanka seeks USD1.1bn special SWAP facility from India
May 24, 2020 (LBO) – President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday asked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help Sri Lanka by providing a special SWAP facility of 1.1 billion US dollars to deal with country’s foreign exchange issues. “If the Government of India could provide USD 1.1 billion special SWAP facility to top up USD 400 […]
S&P lowers Sri Lanka’s credit rating to ‘B-’
May 21, 2020 (LBO) – Rating agency S&P has lowered Sri Lanka’s long-term sovereign credit rating to B- from B, with a stable outlook, citing the government’s worsening fiscal position. S&P expects the COVID-19 outbreak to push Sri Lanka’s economy into a recession in 2020, against earlier expectations of a rebound. This would weaken Sri […]
Ceylon Chamber proposes multi-sectoral approach for economic revival
May 20, 2020 (LBO) – The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce has submitted its multi-sectoral proposals to the Task Force for Economic Revival and Poverty Alleviation. This was building on the submission made to the President on a Shared Vision for Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery. The sectors included in the document covered immediate, medium, and long-term proposals […]
Sri Lanka explores SWAP facilities with regional Central Banks
May 19, 2020 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is in the process of exploring SWAP facilities with regional central banks, while arrangements are also being made for syndicate financing with identified foreign sources, the Central Bank said. While reiterating its commitment to meeting all its financial obligations, the Central Bank said in a statement that the […]
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May 18, 2020 (LBO) – The G-20 debt suspension initiative is unlikely to ease the significant credit challenges that the coronavirus pandemic has amplified in some frontier market sovereigns, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report today. QUOTES FROM MOODY’S SECTOR IN-DEPTH REPORT We rate 34 out of the 76 IDA-eligible countries, to which we […]
Sri Lanka official reserves at USD 7.9Bn at end Feb 2020
May 18, 2020 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s gross official reserves stood at 7.9 billion dollars at end February 2020, equivalent to 4.7 months of imports, the Central Bank said. Total foreign assets, which consist of gross official reserves and foreign assets of the banking sector, amounted to 10.9 billion dollars at end February 2020, equivalent […]
Sri Lanka trade deficit shrinks in Feb 2020
May 18, 2020 (LBO) – The deficit in Sri Lanka’s trade account widened in February 2020 to 574 million dollars, from 451 million dollars in February 2019, as the increase in imports surpassed the increase in exports. However, on a month on month basis, the trade deficit in February 2020 recorded a contraction. On a […]