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Sri Lanka Central Bank keeps rates steady ahead of budget
Oct 31, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank on Monday decided to keep its key interest rates steady, a few days ahead of the national budget. Accordingly, the Standing Deposit Facility Rate and the Standing Lending Facility Rate of the Central Bank will be maintained at 7.00 percent and 8.50 percent, respectively. Monetary Policy […]
Sri Lanka’s CCPI inflation up 0.3 pct points in Oct 2016
Oct 31, 2016 (LBO) – Consumer prices in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo accelerated 4.2 percent in October 2016 from a year earlier, up from 3.9 percent in September, the state statistics office data showed. Inflation of the food group increased from 5.5 percent in September to 6.0 percent in October while that of non-food group […]
Sri Lanka’s Speaker Karu Jayasuriya chairs IPU Emergency Session on Syria
Karu Jayasuriya, Speaker of the Parliament, attending the 135th Session of the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in Geneva, was invited to chair the emergency session on Syria called by the IPU Assembly on 25th October. The Session had before it a Resolution titled “The war and the severe humanitarian situation in Syria, particularly in […]
Korea Eximbank checks feasibility to create ICT hub in Sri Lanka
Oct 31, 2016 (LBO) – South Korea’s export and import bank is planning to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study to establish an ICT Hub for secondary education in Sri Lanka through a joint consulting firm. Sri Lanka has identified that the availability of highly skilled labor force is vital to the economic growth as well […]
Sri Lanka to have 500 public Wi-Fi spots before end 2016
Oct 31, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Digital Infrastructure Ministry is expected to complete opening of 500 free public Wi-fi spots in the island before the end of this year. The Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure recently reactivated 405 hotspots that underwent an upgrade. The ministry is to open 95 new public Wi-fi facilities […]
Sri Lankan rupee weaker; remittances prevent steeper fall
Oct 31, 2016 (Reuters) – The Sri Lankan rupee traded weaker on Monday due to importer dollar demand, but the month-end inward remittances capped the fall, dealers said. Rupee forwards were active, with one-week forwards trading slightly weaker at 148.30/40 per dollar compared with Friday’s close of 148.25/30. “The month-end inward remittances are there, but […]
South Asia Textiles embarks on USD3mn expansion
Nov 01, 2016 (LBO) – Textile manufacturer South Asia Textiles says it will extend its one billion rupee expansion program with a three million dollar investment in state-of-the-art technology. “Some of the machinery to be introduced will be the aerodynamic Air-Flow textile dye machines with absolute minimal usage of water, a continuous washer which saves […]
Opinion: No room should be left to ‘distort’ freight market in Sri Lanka
By Dinesh De Silva The impact of shipping surcharges including terminal handling charges have been battering the Import and Export industry from 1991 to 2004. Import Export trade knowing the effects on their respective business and keeping the end consumer in mind lobbied with every government from the inception, highlighting the unfair trading practices that […]
Sri Lanka seeks to boost capital markets, draw FDI : OBG
Oct 31, 2016 (LBO) – Government commitments to step up privatisation, repair its balance sheet and encourage more listings should help broaden the base of Sri Lanka’s capital markets and draw stronger flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the economy, the Oxford Business Group said. In April the Sri Lankan government brokered a $1.5bn […]
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Oct 31, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Value Added Tax (VAT) hike 15 percent from 11 percent will make the island credit positive as it will facilitate fiscal consolidation by strengthening low revenue-to GDP ratio, Moody’s Investors Service said. “The government originally implemented the VAT hike in May, but retracted it in July after a […]
SriLankan Airlines named Best Full Service Airline in Central & South Asia
(PRESS RELEASE) – Colombo, October 28, 2016: SriLankan Airlines emphasized its positioning as an airline of choice among discerning global travelers by winning the “Best Full Service Airline in Central and South Asia” at the Future Travel Experience Asia Awards 2016 in Singapore for the second consecutive year. Ajith Dias, Chairman of SriLankan Airlines, said: […]