Category: Economy and Markets
Sri Lanka court allows oil derivative payments
Jan 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has ended a freeze on payments by state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation to commercial banks on derivatives of nearly a million barrels of crude and refined products.In November 2008 Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court halted payments by CPC on oil derivatives struck with Citibank, Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank, […]
Sri Lanka stocks lifted by war victories, higher tea prices
Jan 26, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan share prices rose 3.19 percent Monday as investor sentiment was buoyed by more military gains against Tamil Tiger rebels with the fall of a guerrilla stronghold and selective buying by funds.Investments funds and high-net-worth individual investors also appeared to be slowly returning to the market after staying away […]
Sri Lanka central bank targets diaspora, currency swaps: interview
Jan 21, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank says it will persevere with its quantity targeting regime this year but also use other instruments if needed. It is also negotiating currency swaps with other central banks to have greater access to foreign currency. A weakening economic outlook at home and global economic troubles has […]
Sri Lanka stocks fall as small investor-led rally fizzles out
Jan 21, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan share prices fell almost five percent Wednesday with small investors not having the holding power to sustain the minor rally they had fired in recent days, brokers said.Prices of most shares fell Wednesday including plantations which had drawn investor interest after tea prices at the Colombo auctions recovered. […]
Sri Lanka Treasury bill yields fall
Jan 21, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Treasury bill yields fell across maturities at Wednesday’s auction with the government raising 4.7 billion rupees, the government’s debt office, which is a unit of the central bank, said. The 3-month yield fell 61 basis points to 16.18 percent. The 6-month yield fell 33 basis points to 16.89 […]
Sri Lanka World Bank head says global crisis failure of government
Jan 20, 2009 (LBO) – The meltdown of the global economic system is not a collapse of capitalism and markets but rather a failure of government, World Bank’s Sri Lanka country director Naoko Ishii said.Ishii said the collapse of banks and falling prices of financial markets have been interpreted by some as a failure of […]
Sri Lanka among countries poorly prepared to face global crisis
Jan 20, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is among 25 percent of countries that are poorly equipped to deal with the global financial crisis, and needs fiscal as well as external adjustment to stabilize itself, a World Bank economist said. Claus Astrup, World Bank’s senior country economist in Sri Lanka said about 40 percent of […]
Sri Lanka small investors push up stock prices
Jan 20, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan small investors pushed up share prices again Tuesday, fired by military gains against Tamil Tiger rebels and lower interest rates but lack of fund buying meant the upswing might not last, brokers said. “Last week, when the central bank announced the rate cut, the very next day the […]
Sri Lanka would not apply for IMF bailout: Central Bank
Jan 19, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said it would not apply for an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout or devalue the currency but would seek other means to shore up the island’s dwindling foreign reserves. A typical IMF package involves a clean float of the currency to stop further sterilized intervention and […]
Sri Lanka stocks rise on small investor enthusiasm
Jan 19, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares rose almost across the board Monday in a minor rally driven by small investors speculating that military gains against Tamil Tiger rebels and lower interest rates might revive the economy, brokers said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to […]
Sri Lanka spends US$125mn defending rupee in December
Jan 19, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has spent 125 million US dollars defending the rupee in foreign exchange markets in December in a month that saw the rupee weaken at a faster rate, the latest data shows. The monetary base of the country (reserve money) was at 259 billion last week from 253 billion […]
Sri Lanka gets new deputy finance minister
Jan 17, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa has appointed public administration and home affairs minister Sarath Amunugama as deputy minister of finance and planning, the president’s office said in a statement. Amunugama had been finance minister under previous administration and has also been a public servant before he took to politics. Amunugama […]