Category: Economy
Vote on Account presented to Parliament
Oct 23, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera today presented the Vote of Account for the first four months of 2020 in the Parliament. Accordingly, over 1,470 billion rupees will be allocated for the capital and recurrent expenditure headings while 5 billion rupees will be allocated for the advance accounts. For the […]
Sri Lanka inflation at 5-pct in Sept 2019
Oct 22, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) increased to 5 percent from 3.4 percent recorded in August on a year-on-year basis, the Department of Census and Statistics said. The NCPI for all items for the month of September 2019 was 130.6. An increase of 0.9 index points or 0.7 percentage […]
Financial Action Task Force delists Sri Lanka from Grey List
Oct 21, 2019 (LBO) – The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global policy setter on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), has delisted Sri Lanka from FATF’s Compliance Document which is more commonly identified as “the Grey List”. The decision was taken at the FATF Plenary held during 13-18 October 2019 […]
Will Jaffna International Airport help the Northern economy take-off at last?
By Jekhan Aruliah The opening, strictly speaking the re-opening, of Jaffna International Airport (IATA airport code JAF) in October 2019 was one of the more startling events in the North since the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009. In the North we held our breaths as the promise, unfulfilled for years, approached […]
Farm Smart: Developing Sri Lanka’s agriculture sector in the 4IR
Manoj Thibbotuwawa and Nimesha Dissanayaka Rapid population growth has put tremendous pressure on the world’s agricultural systems to provide safe and nutritious food to all. Unfortunately, productivity growth has been hampered by land and water resources degradation and climate change. The economic and social costs of such disruptive drivers imply that the food systems need […]
Sri Lanka FIU to obtain direct access to INTERPOL information system
Oct 18, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) entered into an agreement with INTERPOL National Central Bureau for Sri Lanka (NCB Colombo) recently to obtain direct access to the INTERPOL Information System. Money laundering and terrorist financing are internationally connected financial crimes that could threaten the stability of domestic as well as […]
Sri Lanka to set up Public Debt Management Bureau under Finance Ministry
Oct 17, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s cabinet nod has been received to establish a Public Debt Management Bureau under the Finance Ministry with the aim of entrusting the public debt management to a single entity. Accordingly, a five-member Public Debt Management Committee chaired by the Secretary to the Treasury will be appointed to draft […]
Opinion: Cigarette smuggling in Sri Lanka, Hype vs. Reality
By Harini Weerasekera In the run up to elections, Sri Lanka is once again witnessing various news activities highlighting how the government is losing revenue due to increased consumption of illicit cigarettes and beedi. However, the wider government policy on tobacco control is aimed to reduce smoking rates and the related direct and indirect costs […]
LankaPay, JCB International announce commercial roll-out of National card scheme
Oct 16, 2019 (LBO) – LankaClear (Pvt) Limited, the operator of LankaPay, Sri Lanka’s National payment network, together with JCB International Co., Ltd. , the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co., Ltd., announced the commercial roll-out of National Card Scheme (NCS) programme of Sri Lanka, after successfully completing the pilot stage since the announcement of […]
Growth in SA slows down, Sri Lanka growth to soften to 2.7-pct in 2019: World Bank
Oct 14, 2019 (LBO) – Economic growth in Sri Lanka is expected to soften to 2.7 percent in 2019, says the World Bank in its twice-a-year regional economic update. Supported by recovering investment and exports, as the security challenges and political uncertainty of last year dissipate, Sri Lanka’s growth is , however, projected to reach […]
Sri Lanka official reserves at USD7.6bn by Sept; YTD rupee appreciation 1.3-pct
Oct 11, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s gross official reserves were 7.6 billion US dollars by end September, down from 8.5 billion US dollars in August, latest Central Bank data showed. Gross official reserves in September provide an import cover of 4.5 months. Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan rupee remains appreciated against the US dollar by […]
Sri Lanka CB maintains policy rates unchanged
Oct 11, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Monetary Board has decided to maintain the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of the Central Bank at their current levels of 7.00 percent and 8.00 percent, respectively. The Board arrived at this decision following a careful analysis of current and expected […]