Tag: economy

June 01, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has slashed an import excise duty on vehicles by 50 percent amid a pick up in the economy and demand for vehicles, lifted a general 15 percent surcharge on all imports and slashed duties on electronic items, an official said. In Sri Lanka prices of wearing apparel are […]

PARIS, May 30, 2010 (AFP) – As European governments rush to cut budget deficits with draconian austerity measures, experts are warning that the fallout could mean a shutdown in Europe’s tentative economic recovery. The IMF’s chief economist, Olivier Blanchard, has said there is “a risk… of austerity zeal in some countries under pressure from the […]

May 31, 2010 (LBO) – Consumer prices in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo rose 5.3 percent in May 2010 from a year earlier, down from 5.8 percent in April, the third straight monthly fall, the government statistics office said. The 12-month moving average, which has been on the rise since March, rose to 3.6 percent from […]

RIGA, May 29, 2010 (AFP) – Decked out in pink, their locks glinting in the sunshine, hundreds of blondes marched arm-in-arm through the Latvian capital Riga Saturday, in a bid to raise spirits in the slump-stricken Baltic state. Tourists and locals marvelled as more than 800 blondes wove their way through the streets for the […]

May 28, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has to contain its fiscal deficit to sustain growth and maintain stability as the country emerges from a 30-year conflict and rebuilds war damaged infrastructure, Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda said. In 2009, Sri Lanka’s deficit expanded to 9.8 percent of gross domestic product overshooting a 7.0 […]

May 27, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka foreign exchange reserves rose to 5,192 million US dollars in March 2010 from 5,032 million dollars a month earlier, with imports and remittances also expanding, the Central Bank said. Sri Lanka’s has a pegged exchange rate and foreign remittances as well as net foreign borrowings of the state […]

May 25, 2010 (LBO) – Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Haruhiko Kuroda will visit Sri Lanka on May 26-28 where he will pledge ADB’s continuing support for government’s post-war reconstruction and development programs, the bank said. During the visit Kuroda is scheduled to meet top government officials and discuss ADB’s ongoing assistance for the country’s […]

May 22, 2010 (LBO) – Active contributors to Sri Lanka’s Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) of private sector workers dropped by 300,000 in 2009, a year in which the country went through an economic downturn, official data showed. EPF’s active accounts dropped 12 percent to 2.0 million from 2.3 million a year earlier. Contributing companies and […]

May 22, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s deal with the International Monetary Fund was back on track with a review mission being ready to hammer out a new deal with fresh targets to rein in its runaway fiscal deficit on the basis of a budget due in June. In 2009 Sri Lanka’s rulers busted a […]

BERLIN, May 22, 2010 (AFP) – The head of Europe’s central bank and Pope Benedict XVI Saturday laid into governments for a lack of financial rigour, after investors battered the euro over fears of unsustainable debts. With the euro having plunged to a four-year low against the dollar in the past week, ECB chief Jean-Claude […]

May 21, 2010 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is likely to release the next tranche of its program loan to Sri Lanka in 4-6 weeks if its management and board are satisfied with the island’s budget deficit for 2010, an official said. Policy talks were encouraging, visiting IMF mission chief Brian Aitken told […]

May 20, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said it was holding policy rates steady at 9.75 percent amid a pick up in bank credit to private businesses and a dip in annual inflation in April 2010. “Developments in the monetary sector have been encouraging,” the Central Bank said. “Credit obtained by the private […]