Tag: Sri Lanka
Petrol Pricing
Dec 05, 2008 (LBO) – The government said it will reduce fuel retail prices from midnight Friday in line with falling global oil prices and ahead of a court hearing on domestic fuel pricing.Prime minister Ratnasiri Wickremenayake told parliament that the price of a litre of petrol will be cut by 20 rupees and furnace […]
IMF suggests Latvia should break soft-peg with euro: finance minister
RIGA, December 4, 2008 (AFP) – The IMF has suggested that Latvia drop the peg linking its national currency with the euro to help solve the country’s deepening economic woes, Finance Minister Atis Slakteris said Thursday, adding that his government disagrees. “There is a group of experts of the International Monetary Fund that thinks that […]
‘s politicians play petroleum politics
Dec 05, 2008 (LBO) – Despite printing money to subsidize oil and driving inflation sky high, speculating in oil derivatives to keep prices down and getting the entire nation into trouble, Sri Lanka’s politics of petroleum deception is still riding high.When inflation is high the ‘burden’ of government is borne more by the poor and […]
Sri Lanka central bank defends itself from hedging fire
Nov 05, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank, under fire for advising a state-run petroleum firm to hedge oil imports using derivatives in the belief that it helped the balance of payments, has issued a statement defending its actions. The full statement is reproduced below: Hedging : A Clarification re. the Central Bank’s Role […]
Sri Lanka headline index falls below core inflation
Dec 04, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s controversial ‘core’ inflation index, which the Central Bank says it uses for monetary policy decisions, was at 18.1 percent in November, overtaking the so-called ‘headline’ figure which is at 16.3 percent, the latest data shows.The Central Bank said the headline Colombo Consumers’ Price Index (CCPI) fell 16.3 percent […]
Black Market
Nov 03, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state is operating a black market taking an estimated 54 billion rupees a year in profits and discriminatory taxes from petrol users, an opposition parliamentarian has said. Ravi Karunanayake, a member of the opposition United National Party told reporters the landed cost of petrol in Colombo, including freight […]
US in recession since December 2007: official panel
WASHINGTON, December 2, 2008 (AFP) – A US recession began in December 2007, a panel of economists charged with the official designation of business cycles said Monday.But the gross domestic product (GDP) data may have been skewed by tax rebates that stimulated consumer spending, according to analysts. The NBER said “we do not identify economic […]
Sri Lanka monsoon floods affect 370,000: UN
GENEVA, December 2, 2008 (AFP) – Monsoon floods in the north of Sri Lanka have affected more than 370,000 people, with 71,000 being displaced, the United Nations said Tuesday.Tamil Tiger guerrillas, who began their struggle for a separate Tamil homeland in 1972, are currently facing the Sri Lankan army’s biggest ever offensive in the north.“The […]
Sri Lanka opposition to take cabinet, central bank to task over oil hedge
Dec 02, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’ main opposition United National Party says the cabinet of ministers and the central bank is also responsible for a hedging deal that has gone wrong, and would use parliamentary powers to take them to task. Zero cost instruments had been recommended by a study group formed in 2006, […]
Still There
Nov 30, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s petroleum ministry has not yet been taken over by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, following a court ruling by the Supreme Court, a media report said Sunday. The Sunday Times newspaper, quoting petroleum minister A H M Fowzie said he had not received any instructions from the country’s president. The […]
Sri Lanka EPF under fire at 50 years, calls for independent management
Nov 30, 2008 (LBO) – Calls for independent management for Sri Lanka’s state-managed Employees Provident Fund are gaining more support, with less than half of respondents to a survey saying returns were “reasonable”, an influential weekly has said.Fifty years after the creation of EPF The Sunday Times newspaper said only 45.95 percent of respondents to […]
Sri Lanka should stop intervention before it is too late: economist
Nov 29, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should stop a self-destructive sterilized intervention cycle of the national currency and move to stabilize the economy, to prevent an even more dramatic fall of the currency, an economist has said. Kamikaze Before mid-September when the central bank started a sterilized intervention cycle and started putting pressure on […]