Sri Lanka govt must be consistent, speak with one voice: Pathfinder Foundation

Sep 03, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lankan think tank Pathfinder Foundation urged the new national unity government to speak with one voice on necessary, urgent economic reforms and “operate in a well-coordinated and consistent manner.” “The new government, which, has committed to operate in a consensual spirit (sammuthi vaadi), needs to speak with one voice […]

‘s SMEs need more growth capital to be competitive: ADB

Sep 03, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s and the rest of Asia’s small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) need finance to help them grow into dynamic, internationally competitive companies, an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report said.This is key to strong, sustainable growth in Asia as the world recovers from the recent global economic slowdown, says […]

Sri Lanka accounting body urges govt to maintain & publish accounts

Sep 02, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Institute of Chartered Accountants, a professional accounting, body urged the government to maintain accounts and publish them, as the government is answerable to the public for how they use income.“Public sector is a very important area.We are making all endeavors for government to move in to accounting which […]

Oil prices volatile after OPEC comments, now down 3 pct

Sept 01, 2015 (LBO) – Oil prices remained volatile in Asian trade on Tuesday plunging three percent after an eight percent rally earlier on reports that OPEC was willing to talk to other producers to achieve reasonable oil prices.A downward revision of U.S. output data had propelled a sharp three-day rally. Brent Crude was quoted […]

Sri Lanka key interest rates held unchanged in monetary policy review

Aug 31, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Monetary Board held key interest rates unchanged on Monday citing low inflation, steady foreign remittances and earnings from tourism. Dollar inflows expected to bolster foreign reserves contributed to the decision, the monetary authority said. The Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) of […]

Sri Lanka’s August deflation unchanged at 0.2-pct

Aug 31, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has reported a deflation in August 2015 of 0.2 percent for the second consecutive month after March 1995, statistics department said. Year on year inflation of Food Group has decreased from 2.5 percent in July 2015 to 2.2 percent in August 2015 while Non‐food Group increased by ‐2.5 […]

Interview: Sri Lanka BOP pressured by consumer spending, external woes

Aug 28, 2015 (LBO) – Post-war stimulus packages by Sri Lanka’s government have pushed up consumption demand which is now having an adverse impact on the trade deficit and balance of payments. This is one reason for the negative BOP position so far this year, Shiran Fernando at Frontier Research said. “We are in consumption […]

ADB to triple Sri Lanka education sector lending to USD1bn

Aug 28, 2015 (LBO) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it will support Sri Lanka’s human capital development for the next five years though strengthening education to help the Indian Ocean Island to become a competitive economy.“Lending for education will be more than tripled to one billion US dollars for the next five years,” […]

Sri Lanka not the only nice girl on the beach: Policy maker

Aug 27, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka needs to build goods and services which can be competitive in the global market and plug in to value chains to gain cost advantages in the path towards a competitive economic nation, economic legislator and newly elected member of parliament, Harsha de Silva said. “We are not the […]

Finance ministry calls for proposals for 2016 budget

Aug 27, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Finance has requested public and private sector institutions and the general public to submit proposals for inclusion in the proposed budget for 2016.Building the economy, fighting corruption, ensuring freedom, developing infrastructure and investment and developing education are the new government’s “five point plan spelled out in […]

Sri Lanka should think carefully before any currency devaluation: Harsha de Silva

Aug 26, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should think carefully about devaluing the rupee as it may not be a good strategy to follow, even though other countries are trying to increase exports by weakening their domestic currencies, newly elected member of parliament and former deputy minister of policy planning Harsha de Silva said. “I, […]

‘s new cabinet will face challenges with global market tumble: Policy maker

Aug 25, 2015 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s new cabinet, which will be sworn in today, will face challenges with the uncertainty of global markets after China’s ‘black monday,’ economic policy legislator Harsha de Silva said.“It is a very unusual evening as we watch global markets tumbling, starting off with China with Shanghai index falling eight […]

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