Tag: Finance

Nov 04, 2009 (LBO) – Fiscal discipline by Sri Lanka’s government will be critical to ensure economic recovery and sustained, high growth anticipated with the end of the ethnic war, RAM Ratings agency said. “Sri Lanka is now well poised to achieve high sustainable growth, as the end of the armed conflict provides the government […]

Nov 03, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has presented an interim plan to parliament ahead of polls expected in the first quarter of 2010 seeking permission from lawmakers to spend up to a third of last year’s budget.Government spending has been reined in somewhat under a deal agreed with the International Monetary Fund with strict […]

Nov 03, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should consider importing people with proven track records to run government as native leaders have consistently failed to deliver and develop the country after independence from Britain, a senior private sector executive has said. “When a company fails and has continuous losses, what do you do? The management […]

October 30, 2009 (AFP) – The United States on Friday announced funding for up to 1,000 former Tamil guerrillas to reintegrate in society by starting their own businesses or learning new skills. The US embassy here said they were giving equipment and supplies to ex-fighters while vocational training was also being made available to help […]

Oct 30, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka rupee has weakened against the Euro and Sterling since November 2008 increasing the edge of exporters to Europe and helping offset a possible hit from lost trade concessions, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said.“It is our contention that Sri Lanka’s exporters’ competitiveness to the European Union had […]

Oct 30, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state workers have recieved billions of rupees of housing loans at rates as low as 4.0 percent while homeless ordinary citizens were forced pay high rates as fiscal deficits pushed interest up, it has been revealed. Under a presidential directive issued this week, state banks have been ordered […]

Oct 30, 2009 (LBO) – Consumer prices in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo rose 1.4 percent in October 2009 from a year earlier, against 0.7 percent in September, the government’s statistics office said.Treasury pressure to print money between 2004 and 2006 and keep interest rates low pushed Sri Lanka’s inflation to above 20 percent and created […]

OSLO, October 28, 2009 (AFP) – Norway on Wednesday became the first European country to raise interest rates this year in the global financial crisis, which it managed to overcome thanks to its huge oil revenues. The Norwegian central bank raised its key demand deposit rate by a quarter of a point to 1.50 percent, […]

Oct 29, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s inflation would be 3.5 percent by end-2009 setting the stage for lower interest rates and higher growth as investor confidence in the economy was rising, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said. “We are having inflation of one percent and we intend to keep it that way,” Cabraal told […]

Oct 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank is engaged in a record mop up of excess liquidity in the banking sector generated foreign from dollar borrowings, surpassing a previous high in 2007.Sri Lanka raised 500 million US dollars through a sovereign bond earlier this month. Inflows from an October 2007 sovereign bond pushed […]

Oct 25, 2009 (LBO) – Doctors and accountants top the outflow of skilled professionals from Sri Lanka, seeking better opportunities in developed countries, a study on migration has said.But government forces defeated the Tamil Tiger separatists in May, ending the 30-year conflict, and raising hopes of an economic revival. The government has said it is […]

Oct 24, 2009 (LBO) – Post-war Sri Lanka’s ability to attract foreign investments would depend on how the island resolves minority Tamil grievances, eliminates residual security threats and improves its finances, a World Bank report said. “The end of armed conflict provides Sri Lanka with a historic opportunity to achieve a dual transition from a […]