Sri Lanka should persist with stabilization measures: business chamber

June 13, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Chamber of Commerce says the state should persist with measures efforts to correct balance of payments pressure and learn lessons to make sure that such incidents are not repeated. “Macroeconomic stability is a crucial element of a conducive investment climate and favourable operating environment for business,” the […]

‘s parliament should have more oversight on debt: legislator

June 13, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s parliament should have more control over the way government debt is raised and its terms, a legislator has said amid rising volumes of commercial debt by the state. Though the constitution by its article 148 gave parliament ‘total control of public finances’ there was very little it could […]

Sri Lanka policy rate unchanged, growth projected at 7.2-pct for 2012

June 13, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is maintaining it key policy interest rate at which money is injected to the banking system at 9. 75 percent, and the growth is expected to be 7.2 percent for 2012, despite a contraction in trade, the Central Bank said. Sri Lanka raised rates and increased energy prices […]

Sri Lanka, South Asian can benefit from free trade, education

June 12, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka and her South Asian neighbors should give trade freedoms to their citizens, strengthen property rights and increase investments in education, a business executive turned politician has said. While South Asian nations were trading with countries in the West whose citizens had won trade freedoms and had high living […]

Oil Exemption

June 12, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Korea, South Africa, Turkey and Taiwan has been recognized as countries that have significantly cut oil imports from Iran, US secretary of state Hilary Clinton has said. Financial institutions of countries that traded with Iran faced the possibility of being penalized in international trade settlements by […]

Sri Lanka exports drop 9.2 percent April

June 11, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exports fell 9.2 percent to 680.1 million dollars in April, while the country’s import bill slipped 3.3 percent to 1,441.0 million dollars, due to slower sales of apparels and tea, official data showed. The bank said the average crude oil import price rose to 121.21 dollars per barrel […]

Debt Games

June 11, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) has run debts of 65 billion rupees with other state entities by May 31 and talks are on to clear them with a Treasury bond, a minister has said. Petroleum minister Susil Premjayantha has told parliament furnace oil is still being sold to […]

Deficit plugging Krugman slammed by Estonian leaders

June 10, 2012 (LBO) – Paul Krugman, an influential Nobel laureate who peddles a formula of deficit spending for rulers and currency depreciation for the people as tools of economic recovery, has received a set down from a small nation that did the exact opposite. In a New York Times blog post earlier this week, […]

‘s 2012 foreign investment target to dip to $1.7 bn: report

June 08, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main investment promotion board is targeting 1.7 billion dollars of investments this year, lower than 2.0 billion dollars projected by the central bank, a report showed. The Indian Ocean Island attracted a record 1.0 billion dollars in investments last year, mainly from new hotel constructions, Board of Investment’s […]

Sri Lanka industrialists forging ahead amid uncertainty

June 8, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s see sawing policy ranging from labour, exchange rate, taxation and interest rates are challenging manufacturers, who are also finding ways to remain competitive in the export market, officials said. “We need policy consistency from the government,” Sunil Wijesinha, chairman of Dankotuwa Porcelain, a tableware maker said, referring to […]

Sri Lanka short term Treasuries yields fall

June 06, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s short term Treasury bill yields fell as much as 15 basis points at Wednesday’s auction though one year yields edged up slightly, data from the state debt office showed. Before the advent of paper money and central banking, rulers debased money by mixing precious metals with cheaper metals […]

Sri Lanka calls for investments in import substitution

June 04, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s finance ministry has called businesses to invest more in import substitution businesses, saying hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent to bring such goods from foreign countries. The finance ministry in its annual report said there was a “continued reliance” on importing food, pharmaceuticals, dairy products, textile, […]

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