Category: Economy

January 29 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s top donors steered the focus of an annual aid review from cash to solving the internal conflict, giving relief to affected people and improving governance and human rights. “No amount of development assistance by the US or any other donor can have any lasting impact however, without finding a […]

GALLE, Sri Lanka, Jan 29, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka must commit to peace and restore investor confidence if it is to develop its potential, a senior World Bank official said ahead of a crucial review Monday of international aid.The bank’s vice president for South Asia, Praful Patel, said it was “deeply concerned” about a […]

GALLE, Sri Lanka, Jan 28, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s key international donors will meet in the southern city of Galle on Monday, amid rising concerns that the cash may not be well spent.Escalating violence, allegations of widespread corruption in the disbursement of international aid and its overall economic management could hurt the island’s prospects […]

January 24, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s treasury chief said Wednesday that the International Monetary Fund’s decision to close offices in the island was a good sign that the country is moving away from being overly reliant on foreign donors. The Washington based lender will wind up operations later this month, as they have no […]

Jan 22, 2007 (LBO) – Plantation companies are likely to post sizeable profits this year, though a recent wage hike will eat into earnings, analysts say. The price of a kilo of rubber, which was at 175 rupees in November, has crept up steadily to 190 rupees this January. Rubber prices moved up on top […]

Jan 18, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka plans to sue heads of state agencies where crooked deals and kick-backs are believed to have cost the government over a billion dollars, the government’s chief whistle blower said Thursday. The head of the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises, or COPE, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, said the state will try […]

Jan 16, 2007 (AFP) – Kick-backs and crooked deals cost Sri Lanka over a billion dollars last year amounting to about a fifth of tax revenue, the country’s top official whistle-blower said. The head of the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises, or COPE, told AFP corruption and fraud runs deep in the main foreign investment […]

January 16, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank has handpicked few private sector professionals to lend a hand to shape the island’s monetary policy, governor Nivard Cabraal said Tuesday. Economist A D V de S Indraratne will head the Monetary Policy Advisory Committee which also includes Sohli Captain, Cubby Wijetunga, Mahen Dayananda, Prithi Jayawardene, […]

January 12, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka hopes to secure over a billion dollars in aid pledges when foreign donors meet later this month to discuss the island’s economic health, and attempts to resolve the ethnic conflict, a senior official said Friday. The Indian Ocean Island secured 1.1 billion dollars in foreign aid last year, […]

January 10, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka earned more from exports in November pushing cumulative export growth for the year to 8 percent from 6.5 percent in October, the Central Bank said. Exports rocketed up by 24.3 percent to 623 million dollar in November 2006 compared with the same month of the previous year. In […]

Jan 10, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Urban Development Authority has sought nearly 85 million dollars in French aid for a town planning system in tsunami hit areas. The loan, which will set up a Spatial Information System to capture, analyse and display geographical information, was signed on Wednesday, the finance ministry said in a […]

January 04, (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank has set itself tight targets to limit money printing, contain runaway inflation and stabilize the economy in 2007 and has called for fiscal restraint from the government to help meet its objectives.