Tag: Finance

April 06, 2007 (LBO) – The prices of essential food items that have been set a retail price during the New Year season will not be affected if fuel prices go up since all have already been imported, a government minister said. Food items such as chillies, onions, dhal, potatoes, sugar, types of grain, sprats […]

April 6, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is offering drastic customs duty cuts to help over 20,000 civil servants import new cars, the finance ministry said Friday. The move was to fulfil an election promise made in 2005. Senior public officials, including police and military personnel, with over five years of service will be entitled […]

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, April 4, 2007 (AFP) – Dilhara Fernando took a wicket with the last ball of the match to seal a dramatic two-run win for Sri Lanka against England in their World Cup Super Eights clash at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium here Wednesday. England, set 236 to win, finished on 233 for […]

April 05, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank posted a massive 27 billion rupee profit in 2006 as the economy inflated and the currency depreciated due to money printing, its latest accounts showed. It even sterilized the 2007 provisional advance to the treasury, though interest rates has since started to rise, indicating that Sri […]

April 4, 2007 (LBO) – Increased reliance on foreign currency loans by Sri Lanka’s government and private sector could spell danger ahead if they are not managed properly, the Central Bank has said in its annual report. High foreign non-concessional borrowings could increase the vulnerability of the external sector to various shocks, the bank warned […]

April 04, 2007 (LBO) – Aid to poor countries has fallen since 2005, threatening the achievement of Millennium Development Goals, (MDGs) the head of the United Nations Agency that promotes sustainable development has said. In Sri Lanka for example, analysts say almost all the long-term investments in infrastructure are financed with foreign aid, while 49 […]

April 04, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka announced a cracked down on cruelty to bulls at cart races during next week’s New Year celebrations, President Mahinda Rajapakse’s office said Wednesday. Cart rallies are common during Sri Lanka’s traditional two day New Year celebration, which starts on April 13, but animal rights activists say the carriages […]

April 03, 2007 (LBO) – South Asia’s high economic growth has created a new momentum for closer regional integration, which can increase trade and bring greater prosperity to its peoples, the World Bank said ahead of a regional summit that starts today. Praful Patel, World Bank Vice-President for the South Asia region, said there are […]

April 03, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka central bank says it had met the 17.2 percent money growth number it had set for itself for March, with actual money supply undershooting the target as it attempted to put the lid on runaway inflation in the country. “The actual reserve money as at the end of […]

April 03, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party poked fun at the government’s economic performance as two agencies produced two sets of national accounts claiming growth rates of 7.4 and 7.7 percent for 2006. “On March 30, the central bank said the economy grew by 7.4 percent,” parliamentarian Kabir Hashim told […]

April 02, 2007 (LBO) – A trade union connected to a Sri Lankan political party whose policy influence expanded the budget deficit and drove inflation to very high levels in the last three years is now calling for a higher minimum wage, reports said. But agitation for salary increments also usually follows high inflation. Updated […]

NEW DELHI, March 31, 2007 (AFP) – South Asian officials Saturday recommended observer status for Iran at next week’s regional summit which will be dominated by trade amid warming ties between rivals India and Pakistan. China, the European Union, Japan, South Korea and the United States already have observer status with the eight-nation South Asian […]