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Sri Lanka policy rate unchanged, growth projected at 7.2-pct for 2012
June 13, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is maintaining it key policy interest rate at which money is injected to the banking system at 9. 75 percent, and the growth is expected to be 7.2 percent for 2012, despite a contraction in trade, the Central Bank said. Sri Lanka raised rates and increased energy prices […]
‘s parliament should have more oversight on debt: legislator
June 13, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s parliament should have more control over the way government debt is raised and its terms, a legislator has said amid rising volumes of commercial debt by the state. Though the constitution by its article 148 gave parliament ‘total control of public finances’ there was very little it could […]
Sri Lanka overnight rates at new high amid forex pressure
June 12, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s overnight interest rates rose to a high of 10. 50 percent Tuesday, the highest since a balance of payments crisis began in the middle of 2011, as the rupee sank to a new low against the US dollar. Excess liquidity (the aggregate clearing balance of the banking system) […]
Sri Lanka rupee weakens to new low
June 12, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s rupee was quoted as low as 133.60/90 to the US dollar in intra-day spot trade Tuesday and recovered following some selling by a state bank, dealers said as emerging data showed a gradual contraction in external trade. Last year import rose to unsustainable levels as the Central Bank […]
‘s foreign reserves at US$5.8bn by April
June 12, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves rose to 5,835 million US dollars in April from 5,730 million US dollars in March, which was equal to about 3.3 months of imports, the Central Bank said. Though reserves are measured in months of imports, when a central bank sells foreign exchange to defend an […]
Sri Lanka shares dip 0.08 percent
June 12, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lankan share prices slipped marginally, on thin volumes, as investors picked through selected stocks, brokers said. The main All Share Price Index slipped 0.08 percent or 3.89 points to close at 4,807.55, while the liquid Milanka Price Index nudged up 0.11 percent or 4.87 points to end at 4,269.25, […]
Sri Lanka May tourist arrivals up 17.5 percent
June 12, 2012 (LBO) – Tourist arrivals to tropical Sri Lanka, surged 17.5 percent in May, over the same month a year earlier, as visitors took advantage of the post-war peace three-years since the ethnic conflict ended. On Monday, the central bank said earnings from tourism arrivals had risen 26.0 percent to 340 million dollars […]
Sri Lanka entertainment resort by Indian gaming firm
June 12, 2012 (LBO) – India’s Delta Corp, a Bombay listed gaming firm said it had acquired 11 acres of land in Sri Lanka to build an entertainment resort complex near the island’s main international airport. Earlier Sri Lankan officials said that Delta Corp was also looking to lease an island in Kalpitiya. Update Delta […]
Oil Exemption
June 12, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Korea, South Africa, Turkey and Taiwan has been recognized as countries that have significantly cut oil imports from Iran, US secretary of state Hilary Clinton has said. Financial institutions of countries that traded with Iran faced the possibility of being penalized in international trade settlements by […]
Sri Lanka, South Asian can benefit from free trade, education
June 12, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka and her South Asian neighbors should give trade freedoms to their citizens, strengthen property rights and increase investments in education, a business executive turned politician has said. While South Asian nations were trading with countries in the West whose citizens had won trade freedoms and had high living […]
Sri Lanka shares up 0.26 percent
June 11, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stock prices edged up Monday, on slim volumes with selected buying across blue chips counters, brokers said. JKH counter rose 1.30 rupees to 180.00 rupees on volumes of 146,832 shares. Carsons, with investments ranging from oil palms to beer manufacturing, was flat at 467. 00 rupees on trades […]
Credit Trends
June 11, 2012 (LBO) – Loans to private borrowers from commercial banks collapsed to just 18. 7 billion rupees in April 2012, from 55 billion rupees a month earlier, the lowest since June 2010, amid heavy state borrowing, official data showed. Loans to private borrowers from banks rose 34 percent from a year earlier to […]