Category: Special Reports

Dec 12, 2008 (LBO) – A Master Debater has once boasted that he normally employs three ploys to subdue his difficult customers. ˜When I find that my opponent is not easily surmountable, I use mathematics, philosophy and religion to subdue him’, he has confessed. ˜Mathematical equations frighten him, philosophical expressions confuse him and religious sayings […]

Aug 29, 2008 (LBO) – John Exter, the founding Governor of the Central Bank of Ceylon (as the Bank was called at that time) was indeed a unique history maker on many counts . John Exter had an illustrious academic as well as a professional career. He graduated from Wooster College and entered both Fletcher […]

June 10, 2007 (LBO) – A popular folk story talks of a villager and a chance meeting of a demon in the forest and using his craftiness to get the demon to work for him. Therefore, the use of inflation as a measure for funding government budgets is not an advisable strategy for any government. […]

Full Release (London/Hong Kong, April 23, 2007) – Fitch Ratings has affirmed the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka’s foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (“IDRs”) of ‘BB-‘ (BB minus) with a Negative Outlook. The Country Ceiling is affirmed at ‘BB-‘ (BB minus) and the Short-term foreign currency rating at ‘B’.The Outlook on Sri […]

May 5, 2007 (LBO) – An amendment effected to the Monetary Law Act in 2002 requires the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to pursue ˜economic and price stability’ as one of the two core objectives of the Bank. The writer is the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka This is somewhat a […]

April 07, 2007 (LBO) – John Exter can be regarded as one of the history makers in modern Sri Lanka.He lent his wisdom, intellect and experience, without any reservation, for the establishment of the Central Bank of Ceylon, the name of the Bank at that time. For those interested in monetary policy/negative effects of Keynesianism […]

Though Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe are thousands of miles apart and are on two separate continents, but our economic policies have so much in common with that country, that it is uncanny. Now things are so bad in Zimbabwe, that the country does not have forex to import security paper and ink to print notes. […]

Though Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe are thousands of miles apart and are on two separate continents, but our economic policies have so much in common with that country, that it is uncanny. The readers of this column are no strangers to Zimbabwe as we have tried to keep a regular update on what is happening […]

Mar. 31 (Dow Jones)–When inflation in Sri Lanka surged last year, the central bank went on an aggressive monetary tightening that saw 125 basis points added over 2005.Inflation has begun to slide since then, and the central bank appears to be preparing to shift to a looser policy, but analysts said it’s unlikely that the […]

Mar 18 (LBO) – Energy consultant Thilak Siyambalapitiya joins in the lively debate on the link between electricity usage and Sri Lanka’s decision to turn back the clock after ten-years. Hence the reasons to retain the present timing at GMT+6 are very strong indeed. There is absolutely no truth in the reported claim that school […]

Feb 18, (LBO) – Due ignorance about basic economics, the poor in South Asia are seeing economy-wide price rises, and resources that could be used to lift them out of poverty in the long term being squandered on consumption subsidies. In 2005 for example, the Sri Lanka’s largest petroleum utility, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation is […]

Chief Financial Officers or CFOs are in the dog house after the spectacular collapse of large US and European corporations in recent years.CFO�s have been hauled before courts to face criminal charges for falsifying financial statement. Jeremy Hope, a financial expert who addressed CIMA members in Colombo said CFO�s are seen as the last line […]