Tag: Finance

Feb. 14 (LBO) – Despite just over two decades of public sector reforms, 17 government entities continue to hemorrhage, draining Rs. 70 billion each year from state coffers, Treasury Secretary said Tuesday. Mega Plans   Sri Lanka is pushing ahead with mega projects in three key districts next month with full state patronage, Treasury Secretary […]

Feb. 10 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s trade deficit widened by 12 percent to US$ 2.5 billion for the year ended 2005, though foreign remittances helped strengthen the island’s balance of payments, the Central Bank said Friday. The country’s trade balance reported a US$ 502 million surplus as at end 2005, helped by a 26 percent […]

Feb. 10 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s trade deficit widened by 12 percent to US$ 2.5 billion for the year ended 2005, though foreign remittances helped strengthen the island’s balance of payments, the Central Bank said Friday. The country’s trade balance reported a US$ 502 million surplus as at end 2005, helped by a 26 percent […]

Feb 9 (AFP) – Peacebroker Norway and talks host Switzerland stepped up diplomatic moves Thursday to arrange face-to-face talks between Sri Lanka’s warring parties as Colombo named more peace negotiators. Norway’s top envoy here, Hans Brattskar, and Swiss ambassador Bernadino Regazzoni flew to the rebel-held town of Kilinochchi to arrange for Tiger negotiators to travel […]

Feb 06 (LBO) – A drop in violence and impending peace talks between warring factions has failed to convince Sri Lanka’s top donors that the situation is conducive for reconstruction and investment, officials said Monday. Top officials of the tropical island’s key donors – the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) – said […]

Feb 06 (LBO) – A drop in violence and impending peace talks between warring factions has failed to convince Sri Lanka’s top donors that the situation is conducive for reconstruction and investment, officials said Monday. Top officials of the tropical island’s key donors – the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) – said […]

Feb 4 (AFP) – Sri Lanka put on a bristling display of its military might to mark freedom day Saturday as Tamil rebels forced a work stoppage ahead of key talks to save a tenuous truce in the strife-torn island.Shops were closed and public transport was off the streets in the restive northeastern port district […]

Feb 4 (AFP) – Sri Lankan authorities Saturday freed nearly 2,000 convicts to mark the island’s 58th anniversary of independence from Britain, a prison spokesman said. A presidential pardon helped 1,995 inmates, including 57 women, serving time for minor offences to leave prisons across the island, the spokesman said adding that 450 of them were […]

Feb 03 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s key international donors put off their Friday meeting with Tamil Tiger rebels, following protests by Marxists and Buddhist monks.“After a consultation with the Government and the LTTE, the heads of agencies of ADB, IMF and World Bank have postponed their visit to Kilinochchi.The visit will be rescheduled after the […]

Colombo, Feb 2 (PTI) Panic-stricken Sri Lankan legislators today agreed to put off their sittings by nearly two weeks following a bomb scare inside the assembly hall. Speaker W. J. M. Lokubandara said political party leaders agreed to put off the assembly till February 14. The assembly opened today half an hour behind schedule after […]

Colombo, Feb 2 (PTI) Panic-stricken Sri Lankan legislators today agreed to put off their sittings by nearly two weeks following a bomb scare inside the assembly hall. Speaker W. J. M. Lokubandara said political party leaders agreed to put off the assembly till February 14. The assembly opened today half an hour behind schedule after […]

Jan. 31 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Tuesday raised import duties (taxes) on rice and wheat flour to discourage flour imports and to boost demand for local rice, the Finance Ministry said.It was not clear whether the tax will apply to the Singapore-owned Prima mill in Trincomalee, which imports whole grain for milling inside the country. […]