Category: Economy

COLOMBO, May 16, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka recorded a trade deficit of 659.5 million dollars in the first quarter, but foreign remittances pushed the overall balance of payments into positive territory, the central bank said Wednesday.Sri Lanka’s exports in the first three months of 2007 earned 1.71 billion dollars while imports cost 2.37 billion […]

May 15, 2007 (LBO) –Sri Lanka is keen on attracting investments in sectors such as agro and metal industries, the island’s minister of investment promotion, Sarath Amunugama, said Tuesday. He was speaking at a function at the Board of Investment where some 600 million dollars worth of investment deals were signed with local and foreign […]

May 11, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s construction industry is seeking to export professional services and eyeing opportunities in the building boom in the Middle East and south Asia, a senior official said. “We want to support the bigger players to go out of the country and do projects abroad – in the Middle East […]

DHAKA, May 10, 2007 (AFP) – Bangladesh’s sixth mobile phone operator, Warid Telecom, launched operations Thursday aiming to grab a slice of one of the world’s fastest growing markets, an official said. Owned by the Gulf-based Abu Dhabi Group, Warid Telecom, is counting on five million subscribers in the first year of its operation, company […]

May 09, 2007 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Treasury bill auction rates eased with the key three month weighed average slipping 4 basis points to 16.52 percent at Wednesday’s auction. The six month weighted average yield slipped 3 basis points to 16.33 percent while the one year fell 4 basis points to 16.15. Meanwhile the […]

May 8, 2007 (LBO) Sri Lanka’s fight against inflation has received a set-back with monetary authorities unable to sterilize excess liquidity in the banking system which is now reaching towards one percent of gross domestic product.Excess liquidity in the banking system reached 22 billion rupees, reminiscent of the ‘bad old days’ of 2004 and 2006 […]

May 8, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank says there is no ‘shortage’ of coins in the country, and a campaign to bring back coins into circulation has been mis-understood by the public. Authorities started a campaign to persuade children to break their piggy banks and exchange coins for notes and a 20 percent […]

May 7, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Monday shrugged off Britain’s suspension of debt relief to the island, saying the amount of money was “too insignificant” to worry about. Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama declined to discuss the move to stop nearly three million dollars in aid, but said it was “wrong” for London to hold […]

May 05, 2007 (LBO) – The use of air power by Tamil Tiger guerrillas has raised the stakes in investing in Sri Lanka and prospects of higher defence spending is increasing fiscal risks, analysts said. Sri Lanka needs fiscal discipline and increases in turnover based value added tax (VAT) rates and its base to solve […]

April 30, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s inflation fell for the third month in a row in April after the Central Bank stopped printing money to finance the budget deficit and tightened monetary policy from December 2006. Consumer price increases in the past twelve months measured by the Colombo Consumer Price index fell to 16.3 […]

April 28, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankans were stocking up on snacks, soft drinks, ice cream and liquor on Saturday to watch their home team battle Australia at the cricket World Cup finals in the Caribbean. Supermarkets, grocery and wine stores were reporting brisk sales as customers stood in lengthy queues. “It took us nearly […]

COLOMBO, April 27, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is banking on the publicity from the cricket World Cup to attract foreign investment and tourism to the South Asian island nation better known for its separatist conflict.As the home team prepares for the final clash with Australia on Saturday, the Caribbean event has offered an unexpected […]