Category: Economy and Markets
Sri Lankan stocks close flat
July 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed flat Tuesday as the absence of high net worth individuals, and institutional and foreign investors kept trade volumes low, brokers said. The benchmark Colombo All Share Price Index closed up 0.01 percent (0.24 points) to end at 2,369.11, while the Milanka index of liquid stocks lost […]
‘s foreign reserves up in May
July 13, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s gross foreign reserves, without an advance to domestic banks, rose to 1,291 million US dollars in May 2009 from 1,131 million US dollars in April, the latest official data showed.With a 145 million US dollar deposit at a domestic bank, gross monetary and fiscal reserves went up to […]
Sri Lanka policy rates unchanged in July: Central Bank
July 13, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s key reverse repo rate would be held at 11.00 percent while bank lending rates were moving steadily down in response to rate cuts, the Central Bank said in its July monetary policy review. Foreign hedge funds were putting money back into government securities. In May Sri Lanka’s military […]
Sri Lanka central bank warns of rising inflationary pressures
July 13, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank, which brought inflation down to 0.9 percent in June, warned of higher inflation raising the possibility that it may lag behind better performing dollar pegged peers in the region. Inflation fell to 0.9 percent in June, the lowest since February 2004, when consumer inflation in Sri […]
Sri Lanka regional economic disparities narrowing: Central Bank
July 13, 2009 (LBO) – Regional economic disparities in Sri Lanka declined further last year although the Western Province continued to dominate with 45.4 percent share in gross domestic product (GDP), the Central Bank said. Provinces with smaller GDP have grown faster but a few lag behind and need more support, it said in a […]
Sri Lankan shares close up 0.24-pct
July 13, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed up Monday as retailers cautiously re-entered the market focusing on selected hotel and banking stocks, while institutional and high net-worth individual investors stayed away, brokers said. The All Share Price Index rose 0.24 percent (5.78 points) to end at 2,368.87 while the Milanka index of more […]
Sri Lanka bonds volatile after rate freeze
July 13, 2009 (LBO) – Three year bond yields edged up slightly Monday as the central bank froze its policy rate at 11.00 percent, but fell back in late trading dealers said, while yields at an auction also stayed steady. The government’s debt office which is a unit of the central bank said it sold […]
Australia intercepts boat with 73 Sri Lankans: report
July 12, 2009 (LBO) – Australia has intercepted a boat with 73 Sri Lankan asylum seekers who have now been transferred to a detention centre in Christmas Island, a media report said. Authorities were now trying to find out why they made the voyage, the report said.The Age newspaper said many women and children were […]
Sri Lanka power output, diesel sales down in April
July 12, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s electricity generation in April 2009 fell 2.2 percent to 773 million units (GigaWatt hours) from a year earlier, while diesel sales were down 10.7 percent, the latest government figures showed. Sri Lanka’s economic growth slowed to 1.5 percent in the first quarter of 2009 from 6.2 a year […]
Sri Lanka school dropouts doing great service to nation: minister
July 11, 2009 (LBO) – Dropouts from Sri Lanka’s education system are doing a greater service to the nation than those who have had a free education from the state education system, a senior minister said.Deputy finance minister Sarath Amunugama said more than a million Sri Lankans were working abroad sending nearly three billion dollars […]
Sri Lanka shares break slide
July 10, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares ended slightly firmer Friday, ending eight consecutive trading days of losses, with local investors said to be disappointed by lack of foreign interest, brokers said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 The All Share Price Index rose […]
Sri Lanka says US assured no blocking of IMF loan
July 9, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has received an assurance from a US diplomat that its application for a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)) would be viewed on economic factors alone, the island’s foreign ministry said. Yesterday the government presented more ‘supplementary estimates’ to parliament to increase spending. Officials say Sri Lanka […]