Tag: economy

Oct 18, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank will gradually sell down its Treasury bill stock, as they come up for maturity, Governor Nivard Cabraal said, in a move which can strengthen the island’s rupee peg and increase foreign reserves. A T-bill sell-down will stop the rupees from being given as loans by banks, […]

Oct 18, 2012 (LBO) – The United States has given 3. 0 million US dollars to three organizations to help re-settle war refugees with sufficient shelter, access to water and sanitation, the US embassy in Colombo said. The money will be used in Mullaitivu and Killinochchi districts in Sri Lanka’s north, by three charities; ZOA […]

Oct 16, 2012 (LBO) – Debating whether Sri Lanka’s rupee is ‘overvalued’ is a wasteful exercise as models used to determine some intrinsic value of an exchange rate are not worth the paper they are written on, an International Monetary Fund official said. “Economists – we – have these models,” IMF’s resident representative Koshy Mathai […]

Oct 14, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s consumer affairs authority, which has imposed price controls on chicken and cement, has raised the prices of the items media reports said. Poultry which is under price control also has import protection. Sri Lanka’s cost of production of poultry is artificially high duty to import protection given to […]

Oct 13, 2012 (LBO) – Not a single representative of the public or business community that had met Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is also finance minister, ahead of next month’s budget said the deficit was too large, an official said. Critics say the ruling political elite of all hues, has successfully maintained a […]

Oct 12, 2012 (LBO) – A separate mission would arrive in Sri Lanka to have discussion on an ongoing program with Sri Lanka with the end of a successful 2. 5 billion US dollar standby arrangement, an International Monetary Fund official said. IMF’s resident representative in Colombo Koshy Mathai said a mission that had just […]

Oct 11, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka expects to move up on an ease of doing business ranking compiled by World Bank group for 2013, a multilateral lender, the island’s central bank which has been involved in moves to improve the ranking said. A state or territory can move down on the rankings even without […]

Oct 11, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s external financing has got diversified out of a traditional Western led donor group but the country was not just depending on China, despite such a perception building up, Treasury secretary P B Jayasundera said. “Although there is a perception that we have only Chinese assistance for development, the […]

Oct 11, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will negotiate with the Asian Development Bank to get 40 million US dollars of additional financing for a water supply project in Sri Lanka’s dry zone, minister Keheliya Rambukwelle said. This project on completion will provide safe drinking water to more than 453,000 people living. The project involves […]

Oct 11, 2012 (LBO) – Japan has give 96 million rupees (737,575) US dollars to clear mines in Sri Lanka’s former war zones where a civil war raged for 30-years until 2009, to help war refugees return to their former homes. The Japanese embassy in Colombo said the money will be used by Delvon Assistance […]

Oct 09, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has raised taxes on alcohol ahead of a budget to be presented in parliament next month, a day after excise taxes on tobacco was raised, the island’s finance ministry has said. Taxes on wine has been raised to 898 rupees a proof litre from 838 rupees, molasses, palmyra, […]

Oct 06, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has raised tobacco taxes from October 06, a notice posted on the island’s customs office showed, to raise extract more money from citizens and cut a budget deficit stemming from unchecked state spending. The tax hike came ahead of a budget for 2013 to be presented in parliament […]