Category: Featured
Price controls dominate political debate but may not help consumers: Report
Oct 10, 2018 (LBO) – A new report by The Advocata Institute, titled “Price Controls in Sri Lanka: Political Theatre” finds that consumer price controls lead to unintended outcomes including lower quality.Politicians have imposed price controls on a variety of items in the belief that capping prices will lower costs but our survey shows that […]
Sri Lanka FM interview ahead of IMF and WB annual meet on global trade, economy
Oct 10, 2018 (LBO) – Global finance and reserve bank chiefs will gather this week in Bali, Indonesia for the annual gathering of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank amid rising concern over trade war and risks of global economic crisis.Sri Lanka’s Minister of Finance and Communications, Mangala Samaraweera is chair of the Groups […]
CMC pays up in order for SLLRDC to resume garbage collection
Oct 10, 2018 (LBO) – The Megapolis and Western Development Ministry yesterday said Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) made an advance payment of 100 million rupees to the Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation (SLLRDC) in order for the latter to resume garbage collection in the CMC area.Megapolis and Western Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka further […]
We do not expect govt. to implement a price formula for electricity soon: Fitch
Oct 09, 2018 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings on Tuesday said that they do not expect the government to raise electricity tariffs or implement a cost-reflective pricing formula as the government faces elections in the next 24 months amid rising costs. Fitch Ratings revealed their expectation while affirming Ceylon Electricity Board’s National Long-Term Rating at ‘AAA(lka)’ […]
Sri Lanka earnings from tourism up: Workers’ remittances decline marginally in July 2018
Oct 09, 2018 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s external sector recorded a moderate performance in July 2018. The trade deficit continued to widen in July 2018 (year-on-year) with higher import expenditure despite export earnings surpassing US dollars 1 billion during the month. Earnings from tourism recorded a modest growth while workers’ remittances declined marginally, on a […]
Sri Lanka to integrate SMEs into formal sector to facilitate their growth : Fin Min
Oct 09, 2018 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Minister of Finance said the government aims to integrate small and medium scale enterprises into an official sector and establish hard and soft infrastructure frameworks to facilitate their growth. “Every country in the world has identified the importance of SMEs in their economies as a practical instrument in achieving […]
Palm Oil industry rejects vilification of crop as “baseless and unscientific”
Oct 08, 2018 (LBO) – The vilification of oil palm in Sri Lanka on the grounds of the crop’s purported adverse impact on the environment is completely unjustifiable, given that the extent of land under oil palm is just 1.1 per cent of the extent under traditional crops – tea, rubber and coconut, an industry body […]
‘s exports to South Asia Region: WB
Oct 08, 2018 (LBO) – If trade barriers are overcome, trade within South Asia can increase three-fold, from 23 billion US dollars to 67 billion US dollars, suggests a World Bank report. “Sri Lanka has the potential to more than double its exports to South Asia,” the new ‘A Glass Half Full: The Promise of […]
Deregulation of real estate market to boost foreign investment :JLL
Oct 08, 2018 (LBO) – Real estate consultancy JLL Lanka commended the passing of recent legislation pertaining to foreign ownership of land in Sri Lanka, noting that the move will provide a much-needed boost to investor confidence.JLL refers to the amendment to Section 3 of the Land (Restriction on Alienation) Act No 38 of 2014, […]
ICJ orders US to ease Iran sanctions; India to continue purchasing crude oil from Iran
Oct 07, 2018 (LBO) – India will buy a total of 9 million barrels of oil from Iran in November, foreign media reported yesterday, citing an industry source, despite US sanctions on Tehran to return early next month. In May, Trump pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear deal despite objection from the other […]
Sri Lanka targets USD2.5Bn FDI in 2018
Oct 05, 2018 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is targeting 2.5 billion US dollars worth of foreign direct investments (FDI) for 2018 from 1.63 billion US dollars in 2017, a senior official said. “Our target is 2.1 billion US dollars and we are trying to stretch it to 2.5 billion US dollars,” Mangala Yapa, member, Board of Directors, Board […]
Fuel price formula will be useless if we reveal it: CBSL Senior Deputy Governor
Oct 05, 2018 (LBO) – Senior Deputy Governor of Sri Lanka’s Central Bank, Nandalal Weerasinghe says that the fuel price formula will be useless if everyone knows how to calculate the future prices of petroleum products under the new pricing mechanism.Speaking at a recent TV program, Weerasinghe emphasized that the fuel price formula is considered […]