Tag: business

June 21, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Communist Party recognized Vietnam’s claims to islands which are at a centre of a dispute with China a top official said, amid warnings that Sri Lanka could suffer the same fate from aggressive large nations. “As far as we are concerned we recognize the right of the Vietnamese […]

June 18, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should look at private partnerships to expand infrastructure, reform state enterprises and strengthen the investment climate by improving rule of law and governance, Asian Development Bank chief Takehiko Nakao said. Sri Lanka’s government is investing about 6 percent of gross domestic product in physical infrastructure which was higher […]

June 18, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank held policy interest rates at 6.5 and 8.0 percent but urged banks to narrow spreads by cutting lending rates, as credit growth continued to be slow.Deputy Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said Tuesday such market developments would help bring down interest rates to levels in line with deposit […]

June 17, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka credit growth will accelerate if longer term lending rates fall further, Deputy Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said.Sri Lanka’s inflation in the past 12-months have been in the lower single digits, though inflation spiked to near 10 percent in 2012, amid steep currency depreciation. Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal told […]

June 16, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economy grew 7.6 percent in the first quarter of 2014 from a year earlier despite the agriculture shrinking, estimates by the state statistics office showed. Agriculture, Livestock and forestry shrank 1.2 percent but helped by a 13.3 percent from fishing, the sector showed a 0.2 percent growth. Industry […]

June 14, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank has responded to recent warnings over rising foreign debt by the government and other entities. The Central Bank said its analysis was based on central government debt. It points out that excluding inflows such as remittances also does not present a correct picture. Even more than […]

June 12, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will get 1.4 billion US dollars from the Asian Development Bank over the next four years to finance health, sanitation education and energy, officials said.In 2014 ADB is expected to disburse 406 million US dollars for ongoing projects. “ADB remains active in Sri Lanka and we want to […]

June 11, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka may be more vulnerable to foreign debt than generally believed, amid rising foreign borrowings by both the state, state enterprises and also private entities, economists have said.Harsha de Silva, an economist and legislator said when parameters developed by UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific […]

June 06, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s loans to business expanded 7.6 billion rupees in March 2014, ending two months of contraction, while borrowings by the central government surged, official data showed.Sri Lanka’s fiscal transparency had major setback from the first quarter of last year after the state stopped releasing month revenue and expenditure numbers, […]

June 4, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has hiked import levies on milk powder by 56 percent keeping prices high while world prices continue to fall, giving more revenue to the state.Amid competition cement prices however came down as clinker prices fell, and is now being retailed 15 to 20 rupees below the government mandated […]

June 03, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has seen weak demand for chicken in 2013 a top poultry firm while costs were elevated, a poultry firm said, as the country emerged from a balance of payments crisis and steep currency depreciation. However the price of eggs had now risen from 11 rupees to 15 rupees […]