Tag: economy

June 21, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is expanding economic ties with Russia as the country looks to rebuild its economy after a 30-year war with a large state run firm being invited for talks on the oil and gas sectors and air links resuming, officials said. President Mahinda Rajapaksa attended an economic forum in […]

June 20, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state revenues rose 18. 4 percent to 284.9 billion rupees in the four month to April 2011, but day-to-day spending had also expanded faster, creating a revenue deficit wider than budgeted for the whole year, official data shows. This left a yawning revenue deficit of 75. 4 billion […]

June 16, 2011 (LBO) – Some state owned enterprises (SOEs) in Sri Lanka that made losses, violated policies and were a drain on taxes and growth, needed immediate action to fix them, the finance ministry has said. “Lack of good corporate practices and management lapses have resulted in compromising the SOEs ability to manage risks […]

June 15, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Bairaha poultry group is growing its own grain to ensure feed supplies the company said, as other poultry farmers complained of fresh threats to the industry from maize import controls. Due to loose US monetary policy, global grain prices are also now high. Critics say Sri Lanka’s food […]

June 15, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s listed Malwatte Valley Plantations is mulling the possibility of exporting processed timber, as the firm has more than a 1,000 hectares of trees, chairman W L Bogstra told shareholders. “The Company’s timber reserves amounting to 1282 hectares have been sparingly harvested in the past,” Bogstra said in the […]

June, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Cricket is seeking government grants and a soft loan to meet part of the $69 million it spent on co-hosting the 2011 World Cup, the island’s sports minister said Tuesday. The governing body has asked for a grant of two billion rupees ($18.35 million) and a 1.5-billion-rupee loan from […]

June 14, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank kept policy rates steady in June, saying credit peaked in April and money supply expansion may ease, and international commodity prices are also stabilizing, which will help inflation.Sri Lanka’s 12 month inflation fell to 8.8 percent in May from 9.8 percent in April and remains one […]

June 14, 2011 (LBO) – A ferry from India to Sri Lanka is completing its first voyage, re-establishing link that has been broken since 1983 and strengthening economic links between the people of the two countries. The ferry Scotia Prince was flagged of Monday from India’s Tuticorin port on a 14 hour journey to Sri […]

June 14, 2011 (LBO) – In Kathankudy, Baticaloa in Eastern Sri Lanka, Fathima Izana, a mother with a young child, worries about the quality of the water she gets from a tube well. “The water had different colour and it smells sometimes,” she says. Fathima believes the water may be contaminated by a nearby latrine […]

June 12, 2011 (LBO) – State-run Sri Lanka Ports Authority has lost 1.1 billion rupees in 2010 partly due foreign exchange losses on Yen loans and a rising wage bill despite revenues rising 19 percent to 28.2 billion rupees, official data showed. The newspaper quoted SLPA additional managing director Norman Weerarathne as saying that 2,398 […]

June 12, 2011 (LBO) – A poll by Sri Lankan weekly newspaper has found that 82 percent of the respondents were against the creation of a state-controlled pension fund with private sector workers’ money. Sri Lanka’s ruling administration has temporarily withdrawn a bill to create the controversial pension fund, after protests left one worker dead […]

June 10, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka may see a more investments, if perceptions about transparency are addressed and there is clarity on the role of the state in the economy, an International Monetary Fund mission said. “Increased transparency and improved governance could also bolster market confidence and lead to higher investment,” an IMF mission […]