Category: Money

Dec 26, (LBO) – The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has restricted the use of its cash facility to the banking system, from January 01, in a further attempt to tighten liquidity and reduce inflationary pressure. The monetary authority told commercial banks that they will not be able to borrow cash through the reverse repo […]

December 26, (LBO) – Sri Lanka has raised 100 million dollar syndicated loan from the international banks at a lower rate than previous dollar bond issues in the domestic market, the government’s debt office said. The loan came at a price of 75 basis points above the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and the total […]

December 20, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank Wednesday sought to pour oil on troubled waters saying currency depreciation to date is consistent with past trends. “It is seen that the current depreciation of 5.2 percent [against the U.S. dollar] is somewhat consistent with the usual trend in the past and movements in economic […]

December 15, (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank raised its policy reverse repo rate at which cash is pumped into the system by 37.5 basis points to 11.5 percent Friday and asked banks to raise deposit rates. “The Central Bank has noted that despite several policy rate increases in the past, banks have not sufficiently […]

December 14, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Thursday signed up for a 100 million dollar syndicated from Citigroup to help pay for budgetary and balance of payment support, a top official said. Fitch gave Sri Lanka a BB-minus rating while Standard and Poor’s awarded it an even lower B+ sovereign rating. “We (the government) signed […]

MANILA, Nov 29, 2006 (AFP) – With a face value of less than two US cents the humble Philippine one peso coin may be worth next to nothing at home but in metal-hungry China it spells big bucks. There is virtually nothing that can be bought with these coins and de la Cruz says that […]

November 22, (LBO) – Sri Lanka rupee zoomed to 106.05 in early morning trade Wednesday, two days after it hit an all time low of 109.40, after authorities took measures to take immediate pressure off the market, dealers said.Information reaching the market that petroleum bills would not be settled with purchases from the market in […]

November 14, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank on Tuesday froze interest rates, maintaining a wait-and-see policy over the economy, amidst soaring inflation, an expansion in money supply and real interest rates being negative. The bank said its benchmark reverse repurchase rate, used to manage liquidity and contain inflation, will remain at 11.125 percent. […]

November 14, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank Ltd plans to raise a billion rupees by privately placing two tranches of 500 million rupees worth of debentures, the bank said Tuesday. The funds are required to meet capital adequacy requirements stipulated by the Sri Lanka’s Central Bank, Seylan’s Assistant Company Secretary, N N Najumudeen […]

November 13, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka faces a tough call on interest rates on Tuesday as it balances the need to keep inflation in check and ensure economic growth remains on track, analysts said. Sri Lanka’s economy is growing by near eight percent, the stock market is at record highs, corporate profits are strong […]

November 03, 2006 (LBO) – The rupee gained against the dollar to hit an intra-day high of 106.40 Friday, to settle around 106.70 levels, while cash markets also turned liquid on offical capital flows, dealers said. The rupee closed at 107.20 against the dollar Thursday while cash markets turned liquid from rupees generated through an […]

October 31, 2006 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan rupee sank further against the U.S. dollar Tuesday on sustained import demand, while share prices stayed in the red in the absence of any market moving news, dealers said. The rupee opened lower at 107.60 against the dollar from Monday’s close of 107.45 and steadily rose to […]