Tag: business

May 17, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka can improve gross domestic product calculations to be more in line with international standards and the country does not yet comply with the highest data dissemination standards, the International Monetary Fund has said.“The national accounts suffer from insufficient data sources and undeveloped statistical techniques,” an IMF country report […]

COLOMBO, May 15, 2013 (AFP) – After crushing Tamil rebels four years ago Sri Lanka expected to become South Asia’s tiger economy, but exuberance has given way to mediocre growth and fears of more trouble ahead.The country was almost broke when troops defeated separatist Tamil Tigers in May 2009, but Colombo predicted that ending 37 […]

May 14, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has received 218 million US dollars of foreign direct investments in the first quarter of 2013 and is targeting two billion dollars for the full year, investment promotion minister Lakshman Abeywardena said.In 2012 Sri Lanka received 1,338 million US dollars in FDI up from 1,066 million US dollars […]

May 14, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s new restrictions on foreign ownership of property will have provisions that will allow non-nationals investing in the country to lease land with a tax of 5 to 15 percent, senior government officials said.Large investment projects may be given permission to purchase land by special approval. Ferdinando said listed […]

May 12, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has promoted wildlife and natural assets in the Arabian Travel Mart in Dubai this month as part of a drive to grow Middle Eastern visitors 60 percent to 90,000 in 2013, the state tourism office said.It is also best part of the year for beach tourism in the […]

May 11, 2013 (LBO) – Listening to the unarticulated voice of the customers of 3M has helped the firm drive innovation, which is central to its corporate culture, a top regional official of the US-based multi-national said in Colombo. The company makes more than 55,000 products are year, adding new ones continuously. “It’s easy if […]

May 10, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has to watch inflation, bank credit, tax revenues, keep monetary policy tight and avoid guaranteeing bank forex borrowings and instead create an environment for foreign direct investments, the International Monetary Fund has said.The executive board of the IMF in a review of Sri Lanka’s economy said Sri Lanka’s […]

May 10, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has cut its policy interest rate corridor by 50 basis points to 7.0 and 9.0 percent to boost credit, saying inflationary pressures were in check, amidst warnings by the International Monetary Fund to be careful. “[T]here is now a need to stimulate the domestic economy, particularly in the […]

Apr 03, 2013 (LBO) – Japan will continue to support Sri Lanka if peace is maintained and with the economy also on a growth path, visiting Japanese deputy prime minister and finance minister Taro Aso said.“Considering that the Sri Lankan economy keeps on the current growth trajectory and given that peace and security would be […]

May 03, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has scope to ease policy, because credit growth is slowing and the Central Bank has been selling down its Treasuries stock, Governor Nivard Cabraal said. When its Treasuries are sold down, through a ‘quantity tightening’ policy can be tight, analysts say, regardless of the actual policy rate. T-bill […]

May 03, 2013 (LBO) – Massive losses at Sri Lanka’s state enterprises have a negative impact on people’s lives that are beyond accounting losses in the balance sheet, which hurts investment and jobs an International Monetary Fund official said.Last year state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and Ceylon Electricity Board lost more than 150 billion rupees. “It […]

May 03, 2013 (LBO) – Consumer prices in Sri Lanka’s urban areas rose 7.2 percent in April 2013 from a year earlier, according to a price index compiled by citizens down from 12.6 percent in March. CAL Research said it expected inflation to tick up following an electricity price hike this month. Analysts say any […]