Tag: Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka state firms to repay debt, but Treasury guarantees up
Nov 27, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state energy firms are repaying debt to banks with returning profits, but off-budget bank borrowings under Treasury guarantees are continuing to climb, finance ministry data showed.Loss-making state enterprises that borrow for consumption spending using savings of private citizens have been a key reason for lower domestic investments and […]
Lubricant Liberties
Nov 26, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will shortly license more players to sell lubricants in in the island officials said, expanding the freedoms of citizens.At the moment Chevron, Lanka OIC and state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation are among the front runners. Those will blending facilities also have an advantage over imported final product sellers. Though […]
Sri Lanka income tax responds strongly to rate reduction
Nov 26, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s income tax volumes showed the strongest gain following a cut in the rates, in the middle of an economic downturn the reduced most other collections, a finance ministry report showed. Sri Lanka’s income tax collections rose 14.4 percent to 154.7 billion rupees in the first nine months of […]
Sri Lanka chamber forum with legislators on budget
Nov 26, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said it is holding a forum with legislators from key political parties set to take part.Sarath Amunugama from the ruling People’s Alliance, Harsha De Silva from the United National Party, Sunil Handunetti from the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, and Udaya Gammanpila from the Jathika Hela […]
Sri Lanka bans remembrance of Tamil Tigers
COLOMBO, November 25, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military Monday announced a ban on commemorations of the island’s defeated Tamil Tiger rebels following reports that sections of the ethnic Tamil minority were planning to hold events. The military said any event was banned because the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was still a proscribed […]
Sri Lanka budget good for rating: Fitch
Nov 25, 2013 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings said the Sri Lanka’s recent budget would help Sri Lanka’s ‘BB” sovereign rating.Fitch said Sri Lanka has to guard against foreign debt. “The Sri Lankan government also has a significant amount of foreign currency debt,” Fitch said. “At around 33% of GDP this poses a risk to the […]
Petro Gains
Nov 24, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has reached break-even level and made a marginal loss after adjusting for losses on derivatives, finance ministry report said.The CPC had made a 3.8 billion rupee profit in the nine months to September 2013 but made an accounting loss of 3.7 billion rupees after […]
Sri Lanka opposition slams cronyism in budget, commends restraints
Nov 23, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party slammed the ‘cronyism’ displayed in some of the tax cuts but said bringing down the deficit amid lower tax revenues deserved recognition.Opposition legislator Harsha de Silva said some of the duty and tax concessions for luxury branded goods and the value added tax […]
Sri Lanka targets lower deficit in 2014 budget, ups protectionism
Nov 22, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has slapped a series of new taxes to raise revenue and worsen protectionism setting an ambitious state revenue targets for 2014 with more spending and borrowing outlined outside the budget.But state airlines continued to run losses, needing a 200 million US dollar bailout in 2014. The Urban Development […]
Sri Lanka expects 8.0-pct growth, 5.2-pct budget deficit in 2014
Nov 21, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is expected to grow 8.0 percent in 2014 with inflation of less than 6 percent and the budget deficit is expected to be brought down to 5.2 percent of gross domestic product, the Central Bank has said.Global commodity prices have however softened in recent weeks, with coffee prices […]
Sri Lanka state carriers to get US$200mn bailout
Nov 21, 2013 (LBO) – State-run SriLankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka will be given 200 million US dollars bailout in the 2014 budget, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said.Ceylon Electricity Board has turned around and Ceylon Petroleum has cut losses. SriLankan will get 150 million US dollars and Mihin Lanka will get 50 million US dollars. Both […]
Sri Lanka offers tax breaks for R&D, royalties
Nov 21, 2013 (LBO) – To encourage research and development a tax deduction will be raised to 300 percent, and royalties will be made tax free, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said delivering the 2014 budget speech.Royalties on new patents will be made tax free for 7 years. President Rajapaksa who is also finance minister said the […]