Category: Economy and Markets
Sri Lanka 3-month treasuries soar to 21.30-pct
Dec 26, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s 3-month treasury bill yield soared 116 basis points to 21.30 percent amid a year-end cash crunch as the Central Bank refrained from printing money to intervene in the bill auction Wednesday.During the past four weeks, 3-month yields have shot up 523 basis points, 6-month 220 basis points and […]
Sri Lanka tsunami survivors still struggle to recover
GALLE, Sri Lanka, Dec 25, 2007 (AFP) – Graft and renewed fighting has blocked relief to Sri Lanka’s tsunami survivors with less than a fifth of money pledged properly accounted for three years later, according to watchdogs.Sri Lanka’s government claims success in rebuilding homes destroyed by the disaster, but international agencies say big problems remain. […]
Sri Lanka floods subside, 40,000 in temporary shelters
Dec 25, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s monsoon floods were subsiding but just over 40,000 people remained in temporary shelters, the disaster management centre said Tuesday.More than 210,000 people were initially affected by the floods, with 40,225 of them remaining in schools, temples and other public buildings, and receiving food from state agencies, the centre […]
Sri Lanka needs more money for tsunami house re-building: World Bank
Dec 24, 2007 (LBO) – The World Bank says Sri Lanka needs more money to re-build houses destroyed in the 2004 December tsunami, and its program is lagging behind in the island’s war-ravaged areas. World Bank says its program has helped restore the livelihoods of around 100,000 families and re-build 44,000 damaged houses. “Together, the […]
IMF urges more flexibility for Sri Lanka rupee
Dec 24, 2007 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said Sri Lanka’s exchange rate appears to be competitive but urged the government not to resist pressure on the rupee and allow it to depreciate. ” . . . greater downward flexibility in the exchange rate is needed to help reduce vulnerability and safeguard […]
Sri Lanka rupee closes higher on equity flows; money spikes
Dec 20, 2007 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka rupee closed higher against the greenback as money spiked in tight conditions Thursday, while the state debt office was again fishing for cash with short term bills offers, dealers said. Reserve money on Thursday was 270.4 billion rupees, marginally higher than the year-end target. Stocks closed marginally […]
Sri Lanka economy expands 7.0 pct in third quarter
Dec 19, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economy has expanded 7.0 percent in the third quarter up from 6.4 percent in the second quarter, putting the country on track to clock up 6.7 percent growth in 2007, officials said. However, growth slackened from the 7.7 percent for the same quarter in 2006 with a downturn […]
Sri Lankan industrialists demand protection
Dec 19, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan industrialists and leftwing politicians have called for protection as an opening economy that is integrating with the world threatens to give cheaper goods to consumers and put them out of business. However, Commerce Department officials said the opening up of the economy in recent years had given the […]
Sri Lanka climate change may ravage agriculture, coast areas
Dec 18, 2007 (LBO) – Rising temperatures over the next couple of decades will ravage Sri Lanka’s dry zone agriculture and a possible sea level rise will affect the coastal economy a top climate change expert has warned. A temperature rise in the next few years is feared even if big polluters decide to cap […]
Sri Lanka says more than 30,000 homeless after floods
Dec 18, 2007 (AFP) – Heavy monsoon showers have driven more than 30,000 people from their homes in eastern Sri Lanka, authorities said Tuesday, and delayed the start of a key cricket match with the visiting England team.Incessant weekend rains made some roads impassable, while rice fields were flooded, the national disaster management centre said. […]
Sri Lanka 3-month treasury yields up sharply amidst cash crunch
Dec 18, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s 3-month Treasury bill yields soared by 115 basis points to 20.14 percent in one of the biggest one day gains ever, at Wednesday’s auction, though 6 and 12 month yields were steady, dealers said. The six month average yield was 19.99 percent and the 12-month yield was 19.96 […]
Sri Lanka has no alternative but to print money: minister
Dec 17, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has no alternative but to print money because the government cannot move into a framework of limiting expenditure, a senior minister has said. Speaking to the British Broadcasting Service’s Sinhala language Sandeshaya program, consumer affairs minister Bandula Gunewardene said it had become necessary to print money because the […]