Tag: Finance

June 30, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economy expanded 6.2 percent in the first quarter of 2008, against 6.1 percent growth in the same period last year but slower than the 7.6 percent growth fourth quarter of 2007, government data showed. The agriculture sector grew by 5.9 percent compared with a 0.5 percent growth in […]

June 30, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka consumer inflation in the capital Colombo accelerated to a new record of 28.2 percent in June 2008, from 26.2 percent in May, the government’s statistics office said. In the 30 days to June prices rose 3.7 percent in the most widely watched Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI). The […]

June 29, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is planning to recognize youth involved community development, in a bid to encourage young people to come forward and contribute to policy reform, an official said.The Young Community Leaders (YCL) award scheme is organized by Sri Lanka’s Banadaranaike Institute for International Studies (BCIS). The YCL awards which will […]

June 28, 2008 (LBO) – The proliferation of illicit small arms in Sri Lanka not only fuels crime but has indirect costs on business as well as the environment, a new survey says. It said 9mm pistols were sold in the underworld for 15,000 rupees and T-56 automatic assault rifles for 50,000 – 75,000 rupees […]

June 26, 2008 (LBO) – The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Belgian government have helped tsunami survivors in eastern Sri Lanka rebuild their lives through self-employment schemes, a senior official said. The ILO’s CB-TREE (community-based training for economic empowerment) methodology has helped restore livelihoods and revival of the local economy of the Amparai district, said […]

June 26, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s debt burden is a cause for concern with resort to foreign borrowings only providing temporary relief in bridging the fiscal deficit, RAM Ratings (Lanka) said. The rating agency said the growing loan interest payments are also of some concern for overall government finances especially at the prevailing higher […]

June 20, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s private sector credit had slowed to 15.1 percent by April 2008 following tight monetary policy, though state credit had spiked in that month, but inflation would slow after July, the Central Bank said. Till August 2007, credit to private sector has been growing at a rate of 25 […]

June 18, 2008 (LBO) – Rosy growth figures put out by government outfits are suspect, a Sri Lankan think tank has said, calling for the collection and analysis of socio economic data to be entrusted to independent authorities. The Point Pedro Institute of Development, said the outlook for the island economy is bleak given rising […]

June 14, 2008 (LBO) – The current oil bubble which has seen crude rising 700-pct since November 2001 is worse than the dot-com bubble which saw the Nasdaq composite index rising 640 percent before it crashed, a media report said. Food riots in poor countries have increasingly put pressure on the Federal Reserve to alter […]

June 13, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka could get 900 million US dollars from the World Bank over the next three years to build infrastructure in lagging regions, improve health, education and safety nets, the multilateral lender said. The World Bank’s executive directors had endorsed a country assistance strategy (CAS) covering the period from July […]

June 12, 2008 (LBO) – Unprecedented borrowings from the central bank or ‘money printing’ to finance subsidies have caused inflation in Pakistan to go to a historic high, the country’s finance minister has said. Finance minister Naveed Qamar told Pakistan’s parliament that large subsidies not financed in the original budget had been given by the […]