Sri Lanka on track to meet deficit, FDI targets: Treasury Secretary

July 04, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is “well on track” to keep the 2011 budget deficit within 7. 0 percent of gross domestic product, and foreign direct investments of 2.0 percent of GDP, Treasury secretary P B Jayasundera said. With first quarter GDP at around 8. 0 percent, per capita GDP is on track […]

Sri Lanka ranked 82nd in innovation index

July 04, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has been ranked 82nd, in a global innovation index issued by Insead, an international business school, behind India but ahead of other key south Asian countries. Switzerland topped this year’s ranking in the Global Innovation Index (GII), while Sweden took second place and Singapore third. The GII 2011 […]

Sri Lanka to continue tight macro-management after IMF deal: CB Governor

July 4, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will manage macro-economic policy prudently on its own after an International Monetary Fund deal ends in December, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said. Coomaraswamy said Sri Lanka has had a history of deficit spending and high inflation over the past 30 years and a seal of approval by […]

Sri Lanka approves investments of US4.0bn in first half

July 4, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment, the state investment promotion agency, had approved 4.0 billion dollars of local and foreign investments in 28 projects in the first half of 2011, its acting chairman A M C Kulasekera said. Among known large projects in the pipeline are two hotel and shopping complexes […]

‘s frustrated migrant workers rise up

BEIJING, July 3, 2011 (AFP) – Migrant worker Yue Yaowei has lived in Beijing for six years but is not recognised as a resident of the Chinese capital — and so cannot get health insurance, buy a car or purchase a house. “I am under big pressure here,” Yue, 24, told AFP at a duck […]

Sri Lanka can trade more with Asia: IMF official

July 1, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should expand trade links with Asia, especially with fast growing economies of India and China, at a time when consumption in industrialized nations is weak, an International Monetary Fund official said. Trade among East Asian nations have grown fast partly due to their integration with global supply chains […]

Sri Lanka warned by UN rights chief

GENEVA, June 30, 2011 (AFP) – The UN’s human rights chief Thursday warned Sri Lanka not to take too long in probing war crimes allegations, saying failure to carry out a credible inquiry could lead to international action. Colombo has questioned the authenticity of the Channel 4 footage but said that a local panel, known […]

Sri Lanka economy grows 7.9-pct in first quarter

July 01, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economy grew 7. 9 percent in the first quarter of 2011, up from 7. 1 percent in the same period a year ago, with strong growth in industry and services while the agriculture sector contracted. Economic growth has been picking up with the end of the island’s 30-year […]

Oily Issue

July 1, 2011 (LBO) – Long queues of cars have built up around some fuel stations of the Sri Lanka unit of India Oil Corporation after car owners complained of engine trouble after filling up from their competitor. Customers who used petrol sold by state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation have complained that they had to replace […]

Sri Lanka to take-over land to build new city in Hambantota

June 30, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will take-over land in Hambantota in Southern Sri Lanka to build a new business and industrial city which will have housing, hotels, a theatre, schools, beach parks and, the government’s information office said. Sri Lanka’s cabinet of ministers had given the nod to give Urban Development Authority (UDA) […]

Sri Lanka inflation eases to 7.1-pct in June

June 30, 2011 (LBO) – Consumer prices in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo rose 7.1 percent by June 2011, down from 8. 2 percent in May, with prices falling 0. 2 percent during the month, the government’s statistics office said. The food category fell 1.0 percent during the month, but all other categories rose or were […]

Fuel Fiasco

June 30, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s petroleum industries minister has rejected allegations the government imported low quality petrol, saying motorists whose vehicles were damaged had been supplied fuel contaminated by rain and dregs. Susil Premajayantha said motorists who could prove they had been supplied contaminated fuel would be given compensation. He rejected allegations the […]

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