Tag: economy

April 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s cash-strapped government has been unable to offer relief to the private sector over lengthy delays in getting value-added tax (VAT) refunds.Private sector officials said companies were facing cash-flow problems owing to the delays in VAT refunds on the part of the Inland Revenue Department. Tax department officials said […]

April 07, 2009 (LBO) – The Netherlands will stop giving aid to Sri Lanka due to an internal conflict, ending a longstanding partnership which had given 30 to 40 million Euros each year to the island, a media report said. A web report of the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Sinhala Service said the Netherlands government had […]

April 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has urged the government to curb recruitment into the hugely over-staffed and inefficient state sector, given the difficulties caused by economic slowdown.The government has said it expects growth to be boosted by an economic revival in the north and east, which has been cleared of Tamil […]

Apr 06, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has given an amnesty for individuals and businesses that deposit foreign exchange in banks in the next two year years, as the country grapples with a severe balance of payments crisis. Advertisements placed in weekend newspapers by the island’s central bank and finance ministry said the tax waiver […]

April 06, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economic growth is forecast to slow sharply to 2.5 percent this year, from six percent last year and then recover to five percent in 2010, the central bank said.“Hence, in order to maintain inflation at a single digit level in the medium-term, it is imperative to continue with […]

April 06, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should go slow on big projects because of funds shortages in order to be able to better cope with the economic slowdown this year, the central bank said. “Financial flows to the government and the private sectors are likely to decline in 2009 and recover gradually thereafter,” the […]

April 5, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka appears to be on the verge of crushing Tamil Tiger rebels after decades of fighting but its success has blown a hole in the nation’s finances and forced it to seek an IMF bailout. Negotiations are underway with the International Monetary Fund for a 2.4 billion-dollar rescue package […]

LONDON, April 2, 2009 (AFP) – G20 leaders made major progress in reforming a “failed regulatory system” for global finance which had endangered the world’s prosperity, US President Barack Obama said after their summit Thursday. “We made enormous strides in committing ourselves to comprehensive reform of a failed regulatory system,” he said after a G20 […]

April 03, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka rupee held steady against the US dollar in intra-day trading around 116.00 rupees Friday days after an International Monetary Fund mission wrapped up talks in Colombo, and a bailout expected within weeks. “An IMF mission is back to Washington and continues discussions with the authorities on the […]

April 03, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government is ready to be flexible on export earnings criteria in a support package for exporters to help them weather the economic recession, a senior finance ministry official said.S R Attygalle, director-general of fiscal policy of the finance ministry, said the government is ready to be flexible […]

April 02, 2009 (LBO) – The migration of skilled professionals remains a major concern for Sri Lanka’s corporate sector, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said.Hasitha Wickremasinghe, an economist for the ADB in Sri Lanka, said a recent survey of the corporate sector by the bank had revealed brain drain was continuing unabated. The problem was […]

Mar 31, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economic growth will slow down this year but could revive the next helped by reconstruction activity expected with the end of the war against Tamil Tigers, the Asian Development Bank said.The ADB report said the island economy remained resilient last year, bolstered by strong growth in the agriculture […]