Category: Economy and Markets
Sri Lanka revises fuel prices: Diesel not increased
Oct 10, 2018 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government increased the prices of petrol and super diesel with effect from midnight Wednesday. Issuing a statement the Ministry of Finance said the price of 92 octane petrol will be increased by six rupees to 155 rupees a litre.95 octane petrol will go up by eight rupees to […]
NDB rights issue 60% subscribed, Rs3.8bn raised
October 10, 2018 (LBO) – Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) listed NDB Bank has raised Rs3.8bn through a rights issue in difficult market conditions. Although the rights issue aimed to raise over Rs6bn, it was only 60% subscribed. Analysts say that the issue was a relative success, as the subscription was taken up during very difficult […]
‘s latest treasury bill auction
October 10, 2018 (LBO) – Interest rates moved sharply higher in treasury bond auctions today.Auction results are representative of the turmoil in global fixed income markets caused by the U.S. Treasury 10 year bond interest rates breaking out to multi-year highs.The 10 year US Treasury bond yield stands at 3.2%. With further interest rate hikes […]
Price controls dominate political debate but may not help consumers: Report
Oct 10, 2018 (LBO) – A new report by The Advocata Institute, titled “Price Controls in Sri Lanka: Political Theatre” finds that consumer price controls lead to unintended outcomes including lower quality.Politicians have imposed price controls on a variety of items in the belief that capping prices will lower costs but our survey shows that […]
Sri Lanka FM interview ahead of IMF and WB annual meet on global trade, economy
Oct 10, 2018 (LBO) – Global finance and reserve bank chiefs will gather this week in Bali, Indonesia for the annual gathering of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank amid rising concern over trade war and risks of global economic crisis.Sri Lanka’s Minister of Finance and Communications, Mangala Samaraweera is chair of the Groups […]
” rating; outlook stable
Fitch Ratings Lanka Limited has assigned Dialog Finance PLC (DF) a National Long-Term Rating of ‘AA(lka)’. The Outlook is Stable. KEY RATING DRIVERS NATIONAL RATINGS DF’s rating reflects Fitch’s view that support would be forthcoming from Dialog Axiata PLC (Dialog), the largest mobile-telecommunication and pay-TV operator in Sri Lanka. The assessment is based on Dialog’s 98.9% […]
Sri Lanka earnings from tourism up: Workers’ remittances decline marginally in July 2018
Oct 09, 2018 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s external sector recorded a moderate performance in July 2018. The trade deficit continued to widen in July 2018 (year-on-year) with higher import expenditure despite export earnings surpassing US dollars 1 billion during the month. Earnings from tourism recorded a modest growth while workers’ remittances declined marginally, on a […]
Sri Lanka to integrate SMEs into formal sector to facilitate their growth : Fin Min
Oct 09, 2018 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Minister of Finance said the government aims to integrate small and medium scale enterprises into an official sector and establish hard and soft infrastructure frameworks to facilitate their growth. “Every country in the world has identified the importance of SMEs in their economies as a practical instrument in achieving […]
Palm Oil industry rejects vilification of crop as “baseless and unscientific”
Oct 08, 2018 (LBO) – The vilification of oil palm in Sri Lanka on the grounds of the crop’s purported adverse impact on the environment is completely unjustifiable, given that the extent of land under oil palm is just 1.1 per cent of the extent under traditional crops – tea, rubber and coconut, an industry body […]
‘s exports to South Asia Region: WB
Oct 08, 2018 (LBO) – If trade barriers are overcome, trade within South Asia can increase three-fold, from 23 billion US dollars to 67 billion US dollars, suggests a World Bank report. “Sri Lanka has the potential to more than double its exports to South Asia,” the new ‘A Glass Half Full: The Promise of […]
‘s stock/bond markets approach $ 500mn for 2018
October 8, 2018 (LBO) – Net foreign selling of Sri Lanka’s stocks and bonds is nearing US$500 million dollars for 2018. The outflows have been a significant factor in the devaluation of Sri Lanka’s currency and declining foreign reserves. Year to date in 2018, net foreign selling of Sri Lanka’s stocks and government securities stands […]
NDB seeks new investors to plug rights issue deficit, shareholder approval yet to be sought
October 6, 2018 (LBO) – Colombo Stock Exchange listed National Development Bank (NDB) has obtained board approval to sell shares unsubscribed for in their rights issue to new investors at the rights issue price of Rs105/share. Undersubscription of the rights issue is expected as the share price was trading slightly below the price of the […]