Tag: Finance

Dec 02, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s private sector credit started expanding in September 2009 ending eight months of contraction and the Central Bank says it would like to see more credit growth before tightening monetary policy.Growing private sector credit demand could also push risk free yields up as the risk appetite of banks increase. […]

LONDON, December 1, 2009 (AFP) – The price of gold reached above 1,200 dollars an ounce for the first time on Tuesday as a weak US currency pushed up demand for the precious metal viewed as a safe-haven investment, analysts said. Gold struck a record high 1,201.63 dollars an ounce on the London Bullion Market […]

Nov 30, 2009 (LBO) – Consumer prices in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo rose 2.8 percent in November 2009 from a year earlier, against 1.4 percent in October, indicating inflation is picking up, the government’s statistics office and analysts said. The statistics office said that in November 2009, the 12-month moving average, a seasonally adjusted inflation […]

Nov 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka must act against corrupt government officials and businessmen and ensure local firms play fair with foreign companies if it wants to attract investors, the American envoy to the island has said. It needs to unshackle the media, be more open to trade and better protect intellectual property rights […]

Nov 25, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has bought 10 metric tonnes of gold for 375 million US dollars from the International Monetary Fund, following in the wake of India and Mauritius, the international monetary watchdog said. The IMF said the deal was made at November 23 prices. Sri Lanka’s central bank Governor Nivard Cabraal […]

DUBAI, November 26, 2009 (AFP) – The plan by state-owned Dubai World to suspend payments on its large debts highlights the sharp economic reversal in the once-booming Gulf Emirate.A timeline of events since the global economic crisis began: 2008 – Oct 5:The frenetic expansion of Dubai appears relentless as state-owned Nakheel announces plans for a […]

LONDON, November 26, 2009 (AFP) – Global equities slumped Thursday, with Europe down three percent after Dubai’s shock call to suspend the debt of a key state company fuelled anxiety about excessive public borrowing, analysts said. The government of Dubai shocked financial markets on Wednesday when it said it would ask creditors of its Dubai […]

Nov 25, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s revenue office will not collect back-taxes from areas that have emerged from a 30-years war but will set up branches to start tax collection as economic activities pick up, an official said.“We are not trying to collect taxes due in previous years,” commissioner general of Sri Lanka’s Inland […]

Nov 25, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s inflation may top 10 percent next year unless corrective action is taken, and recent trends in the island’s most widely watched index should not make policymakers complacent, economists have said. Prices in Sri Lanka’s capital, measured by a revised Colombo Consumer Price Index, rose 1.4 percent in October […]

Nov 25, 2009 (LBO) – The global move towards fair value accounting might prove difficult for south Asian countries as they lack active markets to support such valuations, a senior Sri Lankan accountant said. Reyaz Mihular, chairman of the Accounting and Auditing Standards Committee of South Asian Federation of Accountants, said a key point of […]

TEHRAN, November 23, 2009 (AFP) – Iran’s central bank chief said on Monday that the country has gained five billion dollars by replacing the US dollar with the euro in its currency basket, state-owned English language Press TV reported.“Iran has considerably reduced the total of US dollars in its currency basket,” Mahmoud Bahmani said at […]

November 22, 2009 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan government has failed to make adequate welfare provision for the 136,000 Tamil civilians it plans to release from internment camps, rights activists and opposition parties said Sunday. Heeding international calls for the camps to be closed, the authorities said the remaining detainees — held since the military […]