Tag: Finance

May 22, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said a cut in the country’s rating outlook by Standard & Poor’s was “outrageous, arbitrary and biased” and the county will “be compelled to review its relationship” with the rating agency. S&P cut the outlook on Sri Lanka’s speculative ‘B’ rating to ‘negative’ from ‘stable’ citing […]

May 22, 2009 (LBO) – An International Monetary Fund loan to Sri Lanka is under review and the international community needs to make an assessment of the post-conflict situation in the island, US state department spokesman Ian Kelly has said. Kelly said Clinton had spoken to UN chief Ban Ki-Moon about his trip to Sri […]

May 22, 2009 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has not yet scheduled a meeting of its board to pass a loan to Sri Lanka but the lender was hoping to give the loan in “the coming weeks”, an official said. “I think that’s something that we’re reviewing right now,” Kelly told reporters in […]

May 21, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka moved to a single policy rate with an 11.50 percent window with unrestricted accesss, effectively cutting policy rates by 150 basis as inflation fell and the central bank acted to boost credit. The central bank earlier operated a discount or ‘penal reverse repurchase’ window of 13.0 percent with […]

May 21, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka stocks rose 4.25 percent in morning trade Thursday following a national holiday to celebrate the end of an internal war, while bonds yields remained steady following a rate cut, dealers said. On Tuesday at the weekly auction of treasury securities 12-month bill yields fell 32 basis points to […]

May 21, 2009(LBO) – Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has lowered the outlook of Sri Lanka’s ‘B’ sovereign rating to negative from stable, on weak budgets, fallen foreign reserves and uncertainty over an International Monetary Fund loan. “The negative outlook reflects our opinion that underlying pressures on Sri Lanka’s external liquidity position have intensified, while the […]

WASHINGTON, May 19, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka must step up relief efforts and provide its Tamil minority political autonomy, governments and relief agencies urged after Colombo said it had finally routed the Tamil Tiger rebels.As the military mopped up in the far northeast, the European Union demanded an independent inquiry into allegations of human […]

May 19, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse called for private sector investment and the return of the island’s diaspora to revive the economy of the country which he said had finally been freed of terrorism with the defeat of the Tamil Tigers. “The main obstacle to private sector investment, which had been […]

TOKYO, May 19, 2009 (AFP) – Japan, Sri Lanka’s largest aid donor and the holder of two thirds of its foreign debt, on Tuesday “welcomed the end of the civil war” in the island-nation, the prime minister’s office said. Prime Minister Taro Aso spoke by telephone with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, who had earlier […]

May 19, 2009 (LBO) – The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said the Sri Lankan government’s victory over Tamil Tiger rebels enables it to turn its efforts towards reviving the economy.“This victory demonstrates the true capabilities of the people of the country when provided with proper leadership and direction,” the chamber said in a statement a […]

WASHINGTON, May 14, 2009 (AFP) – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said here Thursday it “is not an appropriate time” to consider a massive International Monetary Fund loan for Sri Lanka. Clinton told reporters that the United States has been “trying to convince both sides,” the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger guerrillas, […]

May 15, 2009 (LBO) – International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said Sri Lanka needs the help of the multilateral lending agency and talks were still underway on the IMF loan.He told a news conference Friday that Sri Lanka, which has asked for a 1.9 billion dollar IMF loan, was a “special situation”. Strauss-Kahn […]