Category: Featured
Major thrust of budget is formalizing economy: Ravi K
Nov 24, 2015 (LBO) – A major thrust of Sri Lanka’s budget for 2016 is formalizing the economy to bring in sectors that do not use formal banking channels, the finance minister said. “What we want to ensure is that the economy is made more formal,” Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said speaking at a post-budget […]
Analysis: Asian, Sri Lankan equities attractive on GARY valuation, says CLSA
Nov 14, 2015 (LBO) – Some equities offer dividend returns as well as earnings growth. Called Gary stocks, these are an attractive value proposition in an Asian context, Desh Peramunetilleke, the head of microstrategy for Asian brokerage and investment firm CLSA, said. “The growth at a reasonable yield, Gary strategy, has delivered strong returns globally,” […]
Interview: State enterprise strategic plan in progress, management skill the biggest issue, says Eran
Nov 11, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is in the process of making plans to restructure the state owned enterprises and boosting management skill levels, Deputy Minister of State Owned Enterprises Eran Wickramaratne told LBO in an exclusive interview. “We have lots of plans and we are right at the beginning. We are in the […]
Sri Lanka should review TPP agreement and its impact: Harsha De Silva
Nov 11, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should review and consider the Trans–Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement as an enabler to enter into global competitive markets as signaled in Prime Minister’s statement, Deputy Minister Harsha De Silva said. “We haven’t started to talk about this yet. But TPP is one of the most important trade partnership […]
Infrastructure: Negotiating position crucial in structuring deals, say experts
Nov 09, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government must pay attention to increasing its negotiating strength when seeking commercial borrowing and entering into partnerships with the private sector, financing experts said. This process involves announcing long-term plans, with properly structured projects in the pipeline, and building institutional capacity to structure deals, they said. “As a […]
Public investment in bus, railway a priority before monorail, says transport experts
Nov 05, 2015 (LBO) – From an economic standpoint, Sri Lanka should first develop its bus and railway transportation before spending public money on more expensive monorail, transport sector experts said at the LBR LBO Infrastructure Summit. A Japanese transportation master plan for Colombo, upgraded and approved by University of Moratuwa, envisaged three alternatives for […]
Sri Lanka needs a common framework for pensions: economists
Oct 09, 2015 (LBO) – All elderly in Sri Lanka should have access to at least one reliable, affordable and adequate pension, economists said. “An adequate pension is essential to ensure income security for elderly, without being dependent,” Nisha Arunatilake of Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka said. She was speaking at the National […]
Sri Lanka to revive Sathosa with help from Singapore
Oct 09, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state owned retail chain Lanka Sathosa aims to get support to revive from Singapore as the retail chain is making continues losses, ministry of industry and commerce said in a release. Lanka Sathosa owned more than 310 outlets around the island. “We are restructuring LAKSATHOSA and are still […]
Sri Lanka vehicle prices to increase with new customs valuation basis
Oct 08, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s finance minister has signed an extraordinary gazette to change the basis on which customs calculates the value of certain motor vehicles, and prices of some vehicles may increase by almost 50 percent, car dealers said.With this order the actual transacted FOB value of the vehicle has been excluded […]
Japan to provide 45 bn Yen loan under comprehensive partnership-Updated
Oct 06, 2015 (LBO) – Japan will provide a 45.4 billion Yen (380 million dollar) loan under a ‘Comprehensive Partnership’ arrangement that will include expansion of the Bandaranaike International Airport in Sri Lanka, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. The agreement was announced during Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit to Japan after meetings with Japanese Prime […]
Analysis: Sri Lanka foreign reserve dilemma hinges on Central Bank objectives
Oct 05, 2015 (LBO) – Acting quicker than it did in early 2012, the decision by Sri Lanka’s Central Bank to give up defending the rupee in September of this year bodes well for a quicker recovery of foreign exchange reserves. But enamored with an additional objective of economic development, that goes beyond financial and […]
Opinion: Consuming GMOs is least of our problems
Oct 04, 2015 (LBO) – For a sector so essential to Sri Lanka, it seems the public understanding of agriculture is rather poor. This may be why we have lagged behind other Asian countries in terms of crop productivity. One sign of this — almost all vegetable seeds are now imported. Agriculture experts have watched […]