Tag: Finance

Oct 08, 2008 (LBO) – Major reserve currency central bank led by the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England joined by Swiss and Swedish authorities cut rates by 50 basis points in a bid to head off a deflationary collapse of the global economic system. With interest rates already low the Bank of […]

Oct 07, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s controversial ‘core’ inflation index, which is claimed to be more responsive to monetary action, continued its relentless upward climb even as headline inflation moderated amid tight policy. In an earlier era, in France, paper money ‘central bankers’ who pushed food commodity prices up, created high inflation and economic […]

Oct 06, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s science and technology ministry have sounded out India about using the island’s Thorium deposits in nuclear energy, and an Indian team is expected to visit the country to study the idea, a media report said. The Daily Mirror newspaper quoted science and technology minister Tissa Vitharana as saying […]

Oct 06, 2008 (LBO) – The World Bank will give Sri Lanka 900 million dollars in aid under its new four-year country assistance strategy aimed at achieving more balanced and equitable growth. The World Bank wants to make sure its work is not undermined by corruption and will support efforts to strengthen core governance institutions […]

Oct 04, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said inflation would come down to below 20 percent by year end, but its monetary program is now threatened by liquidity injections in the midst of a sudden foreign reserve outflow. “Point-to-point inflation would come down to below 20 percent,” central bank governor Nivard Cabraal told […]

WASHINGTON, October 3, 2008 (AFP) – The so-called “doomsday” economists long derided by the mainstream say the current financial maelstrom was inevitable, but debate is still raging on how the US economy will emerge from the crisis. The analysts who had sounded warnings about economic imbalances for at least the past two years argue that […]

Oct 03, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government spending policies, and foreign borrowings are key to keeping inflation down though tight monetary policy can bring short term results, a think tank has said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 “Whilst a sharp drop in credit […]

OTTAWA, October 3, 2008 (AFP) – Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Thursday blamed current US financial woes and its worldwide fallout on “irresponsible” policies. “The economic and financial mess in the US is disastrous and the policies have been irresponsible,” Harper said during a televised political debate ahead of an October 14 vote. His […]

Oct 01, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said it had achieved reserve money targets set for the September quarter amid a reserve outflow that has made it increase domestically injected liquidity to maintain reserve money. Such actions, characteristic of maintaining a pegged exchange rate, known as ‘sterilized intervention’ can easily stampede a country […]

Sept 30, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s rupee broke its peg at 107.90 and spiked to 108.35 rupees against the green back on Tuesday after the monetary authority ended a week of heavy intervention that saw more than 100 million dollars flow out of the country. Sri Lanka’s central bank has intervened heavily in currency […]

Sept 30, 2008 (LBO) – Consumer prices in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo increased by 24.3 percent in the 12-months to September 2008, down from 24.9 percent in August, the government’s statistics office said. The census department said food prices fell by 0.2 percent while fuel, household maintenance, transport and recreation showed an increased. The central […]

COLOMBO, September 28, 2008 (AFP) – The United Nations said on Sunday it would send food to those displaced by fighting in Sri Lanka’s rebel-held north, two weeks after aid workers were ordered out of the region. Sri Lankan forces are moving to dismantle the northern stronghold of the rebels, formally known as the Liberation […]