Tag: Finance

Mar 09, 2012 (LBO) – Three soldiers assigned to provide security to a Hindu temple were found shot dead in Jaffna in Sri Lanka’s north Friday morning, military spokesman brigadier Nihal Hapuarachchi said. He said initial investigations had indicated that the incident was due to a personal dispute. “There were no third parties involved,” he […]

Mar 08, 2012 (LBO) Sri Lanka’s Urban Development Authority is in talks with India’s TATA Housing Development Company, to develop an underserved area in Colombo an official said. The Urban Development Authority says slum dwellers are living in appalling conditions without proper ventilation and basic infrastructure. “They can’t even open their windows because it touches […]

Mar 06, 2012 (LBO) – Dubai-based All Futtaim group which already owns a motor dealer and insurer is scouting fresh opportunities in leisure and real estate, group vice chairman Omer Al-Futtaim said. “We are exploring a number of new of new opportunities,” he said. “Real estate and leisure is one of the areas we are […]

Mar 01, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is planning to resume a deal with the International Monetary Fund which can boost the island’s forex reserves which had fallen to 5. 7 billion US dollars and there is no capital flight, the Central Bank said. Analysts say that in the absence of a clean float and […]

Mar 01, 2012 (LBO) – An online discussion based on a report by Sri Lanka’s Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) and the World Bank on creating better jobs has been started using ‘Google Moderator’, to invite more public discussion. “Sri Lanka is in a new phase of growth, but the development challenges are many. Unemployment […]

Feb 29, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has taken delayed corrective steps to counter a balance of payments crisis triggered by a credit bubble worsened by energy price manipulation and state enterprise losses, but more pain may be ahead, economists warned. In 2011 Sri Lanka saw a surge in private sector credit fired by extended […]

Feb 29, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s external finances are under pressure but recent policy changes could bolster the balance of payments even if they hurt growth, Fitch Ratings said. Analysts have pointed out that Sri Lanka is vulnerable to oil prices because the state manipulates energy prices and there is no mechanism to quickly […]

Feb 29, 2012 (LBO) – Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has lowered its outlook on Sri Lanka’s ‘B+’ long-term foreign currency sovereign credit rating to stable from positive because of falling foreign reserves and fiscal problems. The rating agency at the same time downgraded Sri Lanka’s long-term local currency rating to ‘B+’ from ‘BB-‘, while […]

Feb 29, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s consumer prices rose 2.7 percent in the 12-months to February 2012, easing from 3. 8 percent in January, though the index gained 0.4 percent in the month, the state statistics office said. Interest rates have since risen. Sri Lanka’s inflation remained low by historic standards despite a steep […]

Feb 28, 2012 (LBO) – The pain imposed by the tyranny of markets could be much greater than adjustments caused by the International Monetary Fund or World Bank, an economist has warned. The Ceylon Electricity Board, which had to generate large amounts of thermal power from the second quarter of 2011 due to failed rains […]

Feb 27, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exports topped 10 billion US dollars in 2011 growing at above 20 percent, a threshold achieved only on eight occasions since 1951, which exporters have reached for two years running. Sri Lanka’s exporters have shipped 10,486.9 billion US dollars worth goods in 2011, up 22.4 percent from a […]

Feb 21, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will spend 3. 0 billion rupees a year on fuel subsidies to fishermen to help reduce the effect of a sudden increase in fuel prices fisheries minister Rajitha Senarathe said. Last year large multi-day boats were also freed from income tax for up to five years Senaratne said. […]