Category: Special Reports

Jan 09, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s former chief justice Sarath Silva, a controversial figure who locked horns with the executive in the last stages of his term says the island’s constitution has been hit by a “litany of violations.” In an interview with Namini Wijedasa of Labmimanews newspaper he speaks on the 17th amendment […]

Dec 05, 2009 (LBO) – A good policy should carry with it six qualifications. The policy should be simple, consistent, efficient, cost-effective, free from unintended consequences and sustainable.Hence, any policy thrust that is to be pursued should satisfy these qualifications. This applies to the policy on microfinance as well. Policies are implemented by numerous branches […]

Dec 01, 2009 (LBO) – First, we need to understand that debt markets broadly require three enabling factors, the need (or demand) for debt capital, a source (or supply) of debt capital, and the accompanying intermediary infrastructure that is required to put the two together. As far as the private sector corporate debt market is […]

Oct 03, 2009 (LBO) – First of all it’s necessary to say, that there can be several definitions of budget deficits such as the structural budget deficit, the inflation adjusted budget deficit, the nominal budget deficit, the primary budget deficit, the budget deficit on current account and the over-all budget deficit. Each definition has its […]

Sep 18, 2009 (LBO) – The 28th LBR-LBO chief executive forum debated the economic impact of public interest litigation, with a four member panel made up of legal and private sector representatives. Had the Business Chambers followed the above strategy, which in fact was suggested to them, they and their members could have minimized the […]

June 30, 2009 (LBO) – A new word that has been added to Sri Lanka’s vernacular usage recently has been ‘sakvithi’. This word has so far not got into lexicographers’ lexicon in its new sense. Literarily, it means the ‘Chief God of Heavens’. But, the contemporary media have used it in a different sense, drawing […]

May 23, 2009 (LBO) – The primary objective of a central bank is to stabilise the value of its currency and continue to maintain that stability to facilitate long term economic growth. There could be other ancillary objectives assigned to a central bank, such as providing liquidity to the government to bridge its revenue and […]

May 10, 2009 (LBO) – India is one of the world’s most dynamic economies and attractive markets with which Sri Lanka continues to have strong relations by reason of proximity and history. India’s relations with Sri Lanka have, for the most part, been friendly and are probably the best that it enjoys with its non-micro-state […]

May 6, 2009 (LBO) – Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke told the Joint Economic Committee of the US congress that he expects “economic activity to bottom out, then to turn up later this year.” In contrast to the somewhat better news in the household sector, the available indicators of business investment remain extremely weak. Spending […]

May 01, 2009 (LBO) – In its most recent report on the world economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has compared the ‘Great Depression’ and the current crisis but conveniently ignores the core cause, which is central bank rate manipulation. Predictably, blame is also heaped upon the gold standard for not allowing money to be […]

April 18, 2009 (LBO)- During the three decades beginning from 1978, Sri Lanka had recorded on average an annual inflation rate of slightly over 11 percent. During the same period, its annual average economic growth rate amounted to 5 percent. These two macroeconomic numbers have prompted many to argue that inflation does not matter since, […]

Mar 29, 2009 (LBO)- Consciously or unconsciously, we use statistics in everything we do in our day to day life.When we say that it rained yesterday, we simply pronounce a fact we have observed as having happened.When we say that it is raining now, we again mention something that we have observed as happening. When […]