Category: Money
Sri Lanka Central Bank maintains policy interest rates at current levels
Apr 08, 2019 (LBO) – Monetary Board of Sri Lanka’s Central Bank at its meeting held today decided to maintain policy interest rates at their current levels. Accordingly, the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of the Central Bank will remain at 8.00 percent and 9.00 percent, respectively. “The Board […]
Sri Lanka official reserves improve to USD 7.6 billion by end March
Apr 05, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s gross official reserves were 7,621.9 million US dollars by the end of March, up from 6,035.16 million US dollars in February this year, latest Central Bank data showed.By the end of March, foreign currency reserves were 6,728.6 million dollars while the reserve position in the IMF was 66.4 […]
50 percent probability for a policy rate cut in April: First Capital Research
Apr 02, 2019 (LBO) – First Capital Research allocates a 50 percent probability for a policy rate cut in Apr 2019 as they are of the view that policy intervention is appropriate to address the overly sluggish economic growth.Sluggish sentiment in Sri Lanka’s economy has been a major concern with the latest GDP growth for […]
Opening of a counter to issue coins to general public
Mar 26, 2019 (LBO) – The Central Bank of Sri Lanka will open a counter at the ground floor of the Central Bank head office building, No.30, Janadhipathi Mawatha, Colombo 01 on 27 March 2019, to issue coins to the general public. This counter will be opened for the public from 9.00 a.m. to 11.00 […]
Sri Lanka rupee gains: Stocks marginally down
Mar 19, 2019 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka rupee ended firmer at 178.25/40 to the US dollar Monday compared to Friday’s close of 178.40/55 while shares were little changed, brokers said. ‘Inflows from a sale of US 2.4 billion dollar sovereign bond are expected to boost the rupee,’ brokers said. The rupee has climbed 2.4 percent […]
SL fiscal consolidation plans challenging without policy effectiveness and faster growth
Mar 12, 2019 (LBO) – Achieving Sri Lanka’s deficit and debt targets will be challenging without a significant increase in fiscal policy effectiveness and faster Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, a rating agency said in a statement. ‘Sri Lanka’s ambitious fiscal consolidation targets – when the country has not had a fiscal deficit below 5.0 […]
Sri Lanka official reserves at USD 6.0 billion by end February
Mar 08, 2019 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s gross official reserves were 6,005.5 million US dollars by the end of February, down from 6,152.2 million US dollars in January this year, latest Central Bank data showed. By the end of February, foreign currency reserves were 5,091.5 million dollars while the reserve position in the IMF was 66.9 […]
”s senior unsecured US dollar bonds
Mar 07, 2019 (LBO) – Moody’s Investors Service has today assigned a B2 rating to the Government of Sri Lanka’s senior unsecured US dollar-denominated bonds. The rating is based on the preliminary offering memorandum received today, Moody’s Investors Service said. The bonds will rank pari passu with the Government of Sri Lanka’s current and future senior unsecured external […]
‘s upcoming USD bonds an expected rating of B (EXP)
Mar 07, 2019 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has assigned Sri Lanka’s upcoming US dollar-denominated bonds an expected rating of ‘B (EXP)’. The rating agency said the expected rating is in line with Sri Lanka’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of ‘B’ with a stable outlook. The agency, however, said that the rating would be sensitive […]
IMF reaches understanding at staff level to extend EFF for an additional year
Mar 01, 2019 (LBO) – A staff team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reached an understanding at the staff level with the Sri Lankan authorities on the fifth review and the request to extend the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement for an additional year. Accordingly, the remaining disbursements will be evenly spread over this […]
Financial Action Task Force endorses initial progress made by Sri Lanka
Feb 25, 2019 (LBO) – Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global policy setter on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), has made the initial determination that Sri Lanka has completed its action plan. However, that warrants an on-site assessment to verify that the implementation of Sri Lanka’s AML/CFT reforms has begun […]
Inflation likely to remain in 4 – 6 percent range in 2019: Central Bank projections
Feb 22, 2019 (LBO) – Projections of the Central Bank indicates that inflation is likely to remain in the desired 4 – 6 percent range in 2019 and beyond. Headline inflation and core inflation increased in January 2019 mainly due to the increase in non-food inflation driven by higher expenditure on certain items such as […]