Tag: economy

August 13, 2007 (LBO) – The Maldives has shrugged off a red flag from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that its currency peg with the US dollar was under threat from a record budget deficit and money printing. Sri Lanka’s external reserves have also been under pressure in recent months and the country is going […]

August 13, 2007 (LBO) – Despite perceptions of a lack of a ‘feel good’ factor steady gains are being made in living standards, Sri Lanka’s central bank governor Nivard Cabraal said. “Since there are perceptions and claims that people do not feel economic development. Let me also trace a few indications,” Cabraal told the members […]

August 13, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankans need to change attitudes that are holding the country back despite it being reasonably well endowed with human and natural resources, a top economic analyst has said. Anila Dias Bandaranaike, a former director of statistics at Central Bank who had gained widespread respect for her independent analysis of […]

August 12, 2007 (LBO) – If market reforms and globalization that brought prosperity to Sri Lanka’s Western Province could be replicated countrywide, extreme poverty could be eliminated in a generation, a development economist said. Many economists had pointed out that Sri Lanka is held back by policy errors, despite being rich in human, natural resources […]

August 11, 2007 (LBO) – Public sector corruption in Sri Lanka is a key factor driving poverty and the country is losing two percentage points of economic growth a year from resources lost to sleaze, a senior economist said. He said another key cause of poverty was inflation, which affected the poor most because their […]

August 09, 2007 (LBO) – Though Sri Lanka had “substantial” foreign debt, the country would be able to maintain external liquidity even after an upcoming bond issue, Standard & Poor’s Rating Services (S&P) has said. “The interest burden of the debt was nearly 30 percent of general government revenue, while debt-to-revenue ratio, at an estimated […]

August 8, 2007 (LBO) – Standard and Poor’s Rating Services (S&P) has upgraded the outlook on Sri Lanka’s B+ foreign currency rating from negative to stable on the eve of a maiden sovereign bond issue. S&P said it was upgrading the outlook on account of better revenue collections, the elimination of fuel and electricity subsidies […]

August 8, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s new fuel pricing formula, seen as crucial to maintain economic stability and low inflation, is under threat barely two months after it started as opposition groups mounted pressure on the government. Subsidizing fertilizer and energy, together with the internal conflict has been identified as key factors that undermine […]

August 4, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government has significantly altered its budget halfway through the year slashing public investment and bringing down a planned deficit, despite spending more money on salaries and interest. We haven’t established the groundwork in terms of economic policies and political stability to sustain higher growth.” Public investment, earlier budgeted […]

August 03, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said its target for July reserve money was met with billions of rupees to spare and most of the inflation recorded in the month was due to administered price revisions. “Consequently, the annual average rate of the CCPI also moved upto 17.2 per cent in July […]

August 03, 2007 (LBO) – India has called on Sri Lanka to ‘speed up’ talks on the enhanced free trade pact between the two countries during talks with a delegation from the island seeking more Indian investments. Indian Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said the two countries should seek to sign the bilateral […]

August 3, 2007 (LBO) – The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce has called for applications from Sri Lankan companies for its annual ‘Ten Best Corporate Citizen Awards’ contest. The awards, part of the chamber’s efforts to promote Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) within the business community, will be held on November 29, 2007. The main objectives of […]