Tag: business

Apr 11, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s vegetable traders who are often accused of keeping prices up through a purchasing ‘mafia’ have now been accused of lowering prices through imports, according to a media report. Sri Lanka’s The Sunday Times newspaper said local tomatoes were being sold for prices between 100 to 120 rupees and […]

Apr 11, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s commercial rents have risen in 2010 with occupancy levels picking up from a slump in 2009, which saw the end of a 30-year war the owners of a prominent Colombo property has said. Overseas Realty Ceylon Ltd, a unit of Singapore’s S P Tao group said occupancy at […]

Apr 11, 2011 (LBO) – An attempt by Sri Lanka’s state to deduct a two percent from workers’ salaries under to start a ‘pension scheme’ without any prior discussion with the workers themselves has come under heavy fire. The state which already deducts 8 percent from workers salaries for a state managed Employees Provident Fund, […]

Apr 11, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s budget deficit fell to 7.9 percent of Gross Domestic Product in 2010 from 9.9 percent in 2009, Swarna Gunaratne, additional director of the central bank’s economic research department said. The deficit was better than the 8.0 percent of GDP that had been expected, she told a news conference […]

Apr 11, 2011 (LBO) – Reforming Sri Lanka’s loss-making public enterprises could help the country cope better with external shocks like high crude oil prices, the central bank has said. Adjusting domestic prices such as fuel to be more in line with international prices would reduce the burden on the budget of these enterprises, it […]

Apr 11, 2011 (LBO) – Maldives has broken its peg at 12. 85 to the US dollar effectively allowing the currency to depreciate over 15 rufiya to the US dollar under a 20 percent band within which the currency will be allowed to float. The International Monetary Fund said the move will help stabilize the […]

Apr 07, 2011 (LBO) – The Asian Development Bank would finance Sri Lanka with about 300 million dollars annually over the next few years, with roads, water supply and sanitation getting attention, officials said. In the past three years Sri Lanka had got nearly a billion dollars of Asia Development Financing, with a peak of […]

Apr 06, 2011 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund will discuss ways to deal with the excess money in Sri Lanka’s banking system in a bid to contain further inflation from being generated through the pegged monetary system. Sri Lanka’s central bank allowed inflation hit 8. 6 percent in the 12-months to March 2011 prompting […]

Apr 06, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan students studying at universities, private higher education institutions, vocational and professional bodies can win seed capital to start a business in contest launched by the British Council and HSBC bank. Aspiring students will have to submit a business plan to start enterprises in fashion design, architecture, crafts, tourism, […]

Apr 06, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka may need monetary tightening later in the year to contain rising inflation and maintain export competitiveness, though growth will be strong for the next two years, the Asian Development Bank said. A central bank inflates an economy mainly by a coercive legal tender law that forces people to […]

Apr 05, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s requirement for targets under an International Monetary Fund was “waived” because data was not available in time and not because they were missed, an official said. IMF’s Colombo representative Koshy Mathai said the lender gave the latest tranche despite the data not being available all the indications pointed […]

Apr 05, 2011 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund has given Sri Lanka 218. 3 million dollars under its 2.5 billion US dollar program but called on the Central Bank to tighten liquidity management to prevent further inflation. Authorities expect Sri Lanka to generate less inflation after April. Sri Lanka is also expected to change […]