Tag: economy

WASHINGTON, Oct 22, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka needs debate on economic policy centered on real evidence or research instead of extreme posturing based on ideology if the island is to progress, a top development economist said. However up to July 2007 Sri Lanka spent four percent less on oil imports compared to the same […]

WASHINGTON, Oct 22 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has been included in a new World Bank backed initiative to expand the international appeal of local currency bonds of emerging countries. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private sector financing arm, and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) which finances middle income […]

Oct 22, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exports slowed down in August 2007 but cumulative higher export growth over imports helped narrow the trade deficit for the first eight months of the year, the Central Bank said Monday. It said in a statement on the island’s external trade performance that higher growth of exports over […]

WASHINGTON, Oct 21, 2007 (LBO) – The World Bank is putting up new money for agriculture development in rural areas but is promising not to repeat past mistakes that sowed small holder-based entrenched poverty in countries like Sri Lanka. In the 1980’s Sri Lanka embarked on a sweeping agricultural development drive building massive reservoirs and […]

WASHINGTON, Oct 21, 2007 (LBO) – The World Bank is putting up new cash to boost rural agriculture and is promising not to repeat past mistakes that helped sow small holder-based entrenched poverty in countries like Sri Lanka. In the 1980’s Sri Lanka embarked on a sweeping agricultural development drive building massive reservoirs and irrigating […]

WASHINGTON, Oct 20, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should pay more attention to rising inflation and address the problem with the country’s budget, a top IMF official said. “Inflation has picked up and they need to pay more attention to that,” IMF’s Asia Pacific Director David Burton said at the launch of the Asia and […]

WASHINGTON, Oct 19 2007 (LBO) – World Bank chief Robert Zoellick’s new push to lend to middle income nations is opening up new opportunities for countries like Sri Lanka to tap low cost funding, if good economic policies are followed. Zoellick said the bank was already working with the Gates Foundation. He said approaches by […]

Oct 18, 2007 (LBO) – Trade delegations from 12 countries have already confirmed their participation at IMEXPRO 2008, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said Thursday. The event is an international import – export promotion fair to be held from 14-16 February 2008 in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, it said in a statement. The Ceylon […]

Oct 12, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s country-wide inflation has rocketed to 21 percent in July 2007 even as authorities derided a more widely watched price index that measures prices in the capital Colombo as being outdated. In July the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) only showed a 17.6 percent increase over the previous 12-months […]

Oct 10, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will have to borrow 740 billion rupees in 2008, to bridge the budget deficit and roll-over existing debt in 2008, a bill put before lawmakers this week showed. Last year the government got parliamentary nod to raise 655 billion rupees but lack of cheap concessional debt has pushed […]

Oct 06, 2007 (LBO) – The overshooting of a self-declared Central Bank 10 percent inflation target for 2007 is strengthening the case for reforming the institution and bringing legislated inflation targeting to Sri Lanka. . In January 2007 the Central Bank issued a monetary policy road map promising to debauch the internal value of the […]

Oct 05, 2007 (LBO) – Asian Development Bank (ADB), the second largest lender to Sri Lanka, says two decades of aid has mixed results and the relevance of its current 5-year lending program has ‘diminished’ due to conflict and shifting government policy. Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) policy supporting loans, conflict assistance and agriculture sector lending […]