Tag: Finance

Feb 19, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves fell to 1,753 million US dollars in December from 2,030 million US dollars in November which was enough to finance 1.5 months of imports, the Central Bank said. Gross official reserves with Asian Clearing Union (ACU) funds was 2,561 million US dollars which was enough to […]

Feb 19, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government should focus on restoring macro-economic fundamentals which have deteriorated in recent years to help it overcome the global economic crisis, even if means slower growth, an economist has said. Resources had to be set aside for both while the government had to do normal development activities. But […]

Feb 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is hoping to push through foreign funded projects which have been held up due to lack of ‘counterparty funds’, with a lower contribution from the government, a senior minister said. Deputy finance minister Sarath Amunugama said there were “a lot of projects” awaiting a 15 percent government contribution, […]

Feb 16, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka needs “prompt and coherent” policy action to counter a global slump which was slowing demand for exports and making it difficult for the government and private firms to borrow abroad, a top think tank has said. “It is essential that prompt and coherent policy action is taken in […]

Feb 14, 2009 (LBO) – As Zimbabwe allowed full ‘dollarization’ of its economy and legalized foreign currencies, a top monetary economist has placed the now worthless Zimbabwe dollar at the second place in hyperinflation history. Having different currencies competing against each other is also a superior monetary regime to central banking, where a state mandated […]

Feb 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has cut its discount rate that sets the upper limit of inter-bank transactions by 50 basis points to 16.50 percent and a restricted window by 25 basis points to 12.00 percent, amid falling inflation. “Inflation has been on a path of rapid deceleration, benefiting from the […]

Feb 10, 2009 (LBO) – A period of prosperity based on international trade, under an ancient Sri Lankan king may have declined following monetary debasement, as well as a decline in external trade, a top economist in the island said.Central Bank deputy governor W A Wijewardene says, during the reign of king Parakramabahu the Great […]

Feb 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s headline inflation fell further below the country’s controversial core inflation number, mimicking the US experience in the early 1980s, amid a deflating commodity bubble and fresh attempts to tinker with the index. The latest twist comes at a time when, not only the concept of targeting ‘core’ inflation, […]

Feb 02, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is expecting single digit inflation in the first quarter of 2009, and further falls in interest rates, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said, less than a year after the island recorded its highest inflation of close to 30 percent. The Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI), whose weights were […]

WASHINGTON, January 31, 2009 (AFP) – Eighty percent of the world’s governments fail to provide adequate information on spending to the public, often because of a lack of political will, according to a report published Saturday. The International Budget Partnership (IBP), a non-governmental organization that promotes transparency in government, said it evaluated the budgets of […]

HARARE, January 29, 2009 (AFP) – Zimbabwe scrapped restictions on foreign currency on Thursday to prop up its ailing economy, as the United Nations warned that more than half the population needs emergency food aid.Hours after grim estimates by UN agencies also showed that just six percent of its population is formally employed, acting finance […]

Jan 30, 2009 (LBO) – Inflation in the 12-months to January 2009 measured by the revised Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) fell to 10.7 percent from 14.4 percent in December, the government’s statistics office said. The moving average of the index, which is a lagging indicator, fell to 21.6 percent from 22.6 percent. Sri Lanka […]