Tag: business

Apr 30, 3014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s consumer prices rose 4.9 percent in the 12-months to April 2014, accelerating from 4.2 percent in March, data from the state statistics office showed.Sri Lanka’s inflation was relatively low during the past year with credit growth being weak. Prices rose 0.3 percent during April, with the increase coming […]

Apr 28, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is making fresh attempts to prevent private sector workers from withdrawing their retirement contributions once they reach 55 years of age, a media report said.The Sunday Times newspaper quoting an un-named official source said the Finance Ministry is drafting legislation to change the governing acts of the Employee’s […]

Apr 28, 2014 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has confirmed a ‘BB-‘ rating on Sri Lanka with a stable outlook on strong economic growth but said state debt was over twice that of similar rated countries and foreign debt three times as much. “The 2014 budget signals commitment to medium-term debt reduction to maintain a gradual […]

Apr 28, 2014 (LBO) – Companies in Sri Lanka, especially smaller ones, could avoid capital expenditure by using cloud computing to run anything from accounting to procurement and analyze social media, SAP, an information technology firm said. A company could separately purchase services such as accounting, human resources, marketing and sales and procurement, as needed, […]

Apr 25, 2014 (LBO) – Economic sanctions on Sri Lanka are not in the interests of his country, and movers of a UN resolution are expecting progress which would make such questions redundant, UK’s envoy to Colombo said. “Sanctions are not currently an issue,” High Commissioner (ambassador) John Rankin told an LBR-LBO CEO forum on […]

April 25, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s parliament has approved tax breaks for integrated resorts by Australia’s Crown group and Colombo-based John Keells group.The projects have drawn opposition fire for having gaming facilities with tax breaks. Sri Lanka’s Bhuddist nationalist JHU voted against, the proposals, reports said. Government ministers have insisted that no approvals have […]

WELLINGTON, April 24, 2014 (AFP) – New Zealand’s central bank lifted interest rates for the second time in as many months on Thursday, saying it was necessary to contain inflation as an economic recovery gains momentum.The Reserve Bank of New Zealand raised the official cash rate (OCR) 0.25 points to 3.0 percent in a well-flagged […]

Apr 23, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has given a 10 year tax holiday to a 220 million US dollar sugar refinery by the Hambantota port including tax free salaries for 50 expatriate staff. Lanka Sugar Refinery Company (Pvt) Ltd, will import raw sugar for refining to the local and foreign markets, a notice published […]

Apr 24, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has been given a 102 million US dollar credit line that can be drawn immediately after a natural disaster, as well as another 110 million dollars for measures to cut disaster risk, the World Bank said. The lender said Sri Lanka is the first county in South Asia […]

Apr 22, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank held policy rates unchanged in April saying reduced central government and state enterprise borrowings has created conditions for private credit to pick up. Rice taxes have been relaxed ahead of the drought though prices are now up. Meanwhile traders have been slapped with price controls. Sri […]

Apr 22, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka-Italy Business Council, of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said it is hosting a forum on ‘post war dividends’ where Harsha de Silva, an economist and legislator will speak. De Silva, who is the key economic spokesman at Sri Lanka’s United National Party, will speak on “The Road to […]

Apr 22, 2014 (LBO) – An inspiring Sri Lankan entrepreneur who broke into a global supply chain in precision tech components for the automobile industry says innovation comes from within.“I am usually not a person that complains,” Rohan Pallewatte, head of Lanka Harness Company (Pvt) Ltd, a precision manufacturing firm that makes impact sensors for […]