Category: Economy and Markets
Sri Lanka bilingual education gets World Bank priority
Nov 13, 2008 (LBO) – The World Bank said one of the aims of its new aid programme for Sri Lanka was to help achieve ethnic harmony through bilingual education and mixed schooling of the island’s two main communities. World Bank country director Naoko Ishii said the new country assistance strategy was designed to be […]
Sri Lanka scores poorly in ease of paying tax ranking
Nov 13, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has been ranked near the bottom of a new global ranking on paying taxes, making it one of the most difficult countries for business to pay their dues.Among the key findings of the study are that economies that rank highly on the ease of paying taxes tend to […]
Sri Lanka shares weaken further
Nov 13, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main share market index slumped two percent Thursday with liquidity drying up as investors stayed away from trading given uncertainties over economic and corporate growth, brokers said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 The All Share Price Index […]
Sri Lanka petroleum utility hedged to save forex: official
Nov 13, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation hedged its imports after being pushed by the island’s central bank in a bid to save foreign currency reserves of the country, a top official said.CPC started hedging in early 2007 after the island’s cabinet of ministers and a committee in which the central […]
Descent into the financial vortex: a chronology of the crisis
PARIS, November 12, 2008 (AFP) – Key stages in the worldwide financial crisis, which is to be discussed at a summit in Washington on Saturday: – February 2007: First signs of strain in the US market for “subprime” property loans, granted to people who in many cases have no real prospect of paying them back. […]
Sri Lanka govt gives dates for new taxes
Nov 11, 2008 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government has announced the dates on which new taxes imposed in the government budget for 2009 will become effective.The budget proposed to double the annual maximum ESC liability to 120 million rupees and also made big changes in income tax, widening the personal income tax slabs and […]
Sri Lanka shares weaken, trading dries up
Nov 11, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares ended marginally lower Tuesday after swinging both ways with trading drying up as wary investors remained on the sidelines, brokers said. The slow withdrawal of funds by foreign investors, pulling out because of the downturn in their own economies, could continue. “There are shares with earnings potential […]
Sri Lanka shares slump, Sunshine Holdings trading props up turnover
Nov 10, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares ended lower Monday, despite opening firmly in the morning, as investors stayed away from trading owing to uncertainty about the economy and company profits, brokers said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 The All Share Price Index […]
Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam most at risk of a credit downgrade: report
Nov 10, 2008 (LBO) – Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam are most at risk of a credit downgrade in Asia by the rating agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P), amid global economic turmoil, a media report said. The island has been hit by withdrawing foreign hot money brought into bridge fiscal deficits. Okorotchenko was quote as […]
Sri Lanka recent policy has crippled domestic industry: opposition
Nov 09, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s current economic framework has crippled domestic industry and protectionist taxes announced in the 2009 budget are contradictory and are aimed simply at raising revenue, the island’s main opposition has charged.The Mahinda Chinthana economic framework while paying lip service to domestic industry, is undermining its competitive strengths, opposition United […]
Sri Lanka spends US$587mn to prop up rupee in October
Nov 08, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has spent 587 million dollars to prop up the rupee in October, pushing the total to 790 million dollars over past two months, the latest official data showed. On Thursday and Friday the rupee strengthened against the 110 rupee peg maintained by the island’s central bank with credit […]
Sri Lanka budget cuts taxes, but imposes new one
Nov 07, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan accountants say the proposed cut in Value Added Tax (VAT) in the government’s 2009 budget would not provide much relief as a new tax and higher import duties would make up for the reduction. The budget presented to parliament by President Mahinda Rajapaksa proposed to reduce VAT, the […]