Tag: Finance

Nov 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank is in a battle to dampen high public inflation expectations after capping price rises in the island’s capital Colombo to low single digits for more than a year.In 2009 the Central Bank is hoping to end the year with inflation at 3.5 percent after seeing only […]

Nov 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan workers should ask for to 3.0 to 5.0 percent annual wage hikes with the Central Bank targeting low inflation in the future, the island’s most senior Treasury official said. The output of Sri Lanka’s people have largely appropriated by a top heavy state sector. Last year more than […]

Nov 10, 2009 (LBO) – Farmers and fishermen have been among the main borrowers under a Sri Lankan government loan scheme to revive economic activity in the former northern war zone, the Central Bank said. It said in a statement that a total of 1,875 loans valued at 264 million rupees has been disbursed under […]

Nov 10, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has a “moderate risk” of external debt distress over the 2009-14 period, an International Monetary Fund staff analysis has said. “All debt indicators are projected to remain below indicative thresholds under the program baseline scenario,” the IMF said. “This conclusion rests heavily on the satisfactory implementation of the […]

Nov 10, 2009 (LBO) – Labour unions in several key state-owned utilities have rejected a government offer of a pay hike and said they would start a ‘work-to-rule’ from Wednesday that could slowdown economic activity. The joint trade unions of state refiner, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), National Water Board, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and port […]

Nov 10, 2009 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released country report and staff papers covering the background and economic analysis leading up to a stand by loan to the island in July.Sri Lanka’s economic management has improved in recent months with both inflation and interest rates coming down, but external borrowings have […]

CHENNAI, Nov 09, 2009 (LBO) – South Asian surfers get slower and less reliable broadband internet connections for every dollar spent despite compared to users in developed countries, despite ‘cheaper’ packages, researchers have found. “The US and Canada packages that we have tested are not too different to pricing to our ones but the difference […]

Nov 09, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is planning to keep defence spending for 2010 at 2009 levels in rupee terms, and divert money spent on military activities to reconstruction, the government had told the International Monetary Fund. In a revised program document given to the IMF following the approval of a 329.4 million US […]

Nov 09, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka needs stable foreign reserves collected from current account transactions as ‘borrowed reserves’ flowing into Treasuries markets can flow out quickly, an International Monetary Fund official said.“Money has rolled right in and reserves are at a comfortable position,” IMF resident representative Koshi Mathai said. “There is a difference between […]

LONDON, November 9, 2009 (AFP) – Gold prices hit a record above 1,100 dollars on Monday with the dollar weakening after a pledge by G20 countries to keep economic recovery pumped up with easy money.In morning trading here, gold struck an all-time peak of 1,109.50 dollars an ounce as the euro rose to 1.50 dollars […]

Nov 07, 2009 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a 413.4 million US dollar tranche under its stand by loan, despite the government failing to meet a key budget constraint, the lender said. Under the original deal, a net international reserve target, which excluded borrowed reserves other than that of the IMF […]

LONDON, November 6, 2009 (AFP) – The price of gold hit a record high above 1,100 dollars an ounce in trading here on Friday following a report that Sri Lanka had joined India in purchasing the precious metal in favour of the US currency. “The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has announced that it is […]