Category: Economy and Markets
” economy
June 27, 2007 (LBO) – Areas bordering Sri Lanka’s western province, which is open to the world and has good infrastructure, grew fastest last year with a rapidly advancing service sector, the Central Bank has said. “In contrast, all the other provinces had per capita value added below the country average, ranging between 0.8 in […]
Sri Lanka rejects treasuries auction; rupee falls to new low
June 27, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka rejected a weekly treasury bills auction Wednesday as the rupee fell to a new life low against the dollar, dealers said.The local currency traded as low as 111.52 against the dollar before picking up to 111.45, after crossing the psychological 111 rupee barrier just two days earlier. The […]
‘s Law drives Indian coins into the melting pot
KOLKATA, India, June 27, 2007 (AFP) – Businesses and public transport in India have been hit by a shortage of small change as rupee coins are being turned into razor blades, police said Wednesday. Demand for coins in Kolkata has soared as word spread that 100 one rupee coins could fetch 125 rupees from workshops […]
Sri Lanka scraps tax on imported food
June 26, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Tuesday scrapped value added tax on ten key food items in a bid to bring down food prices driven to high levels by money printing to finance the budget deficit last year.Last year the Central Bank printed 38.5 billion rupees to finance a fiscal deficit 8.4 percent of […]
Sri Lanka to set up prosperity index to track rural growth
June 26 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank is to introduce a prosperity index to track the progress of the island’s provinces which are lagging behind and have high levels of poverty, Central Bank governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said. It will also set up a results-based monitoring and evaluation system to see how development in […]
Sri Lanka central bank says overnight rate volatility and inflation would moderate
June 25, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s reserve money targeting regime is showing results and volatility in overnight rates and inflation will moderate, Central Bank said Monday, days after short-term treasury yields went up by 30 basis points. The bank no longer operates a full policy rate regime, with the discount window nominally at 12.00 […]
Zimbabwe currency crashes while Sri Lanka regains stability
June 23, 2007 (LBO) – Zimbabwe’s currency has started to freefall with heavy money printing to finance state expenses reports said, while Sri Lanka’s central bank has maintained some stability despite a widening budget deficit. Analysts are now predicting that Zimbabwe may soon see the end of a populist regime headed by Robert Mugabe that […]
Sri Lanka benchmark gilt rates up on fiscal weakness, information assymetry
June 21, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s gilt rates shot up 30 basis points, a day after the government recieved permission from lawmakers to spend extra money on newly created ministries.Average yields at this week’s treasury bills auction moved up 30 basis points to 17.34 percent with the 3-month rate, which has now become the […]
Sri Lanka surfers turn to anonymizers amidst allegations of net censorship
June 20, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan surfers turned to proxy servers to access a pro-guerilla news website amidst claims that the government has started to practise net censorship in the country. The website, Tamilnet.com alleged that authorities have asked internet service providers to block access to the site in Sri Lanka. To access the […]
Money for new Sri Lanka ministers passed
June 19, 2007 (LBO) — Sri Lankan government Tuesday narrowly secured parliamentary approval to raise the national budget amidst chaos in the house when two former ministers crossed over and joined opposition ranks.The Tigers have declined to comment on the allegations that over 15 million dollars was paid to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam […]
Sri Lanka interest rates up on heavy government borrowing
June 13, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s 3-month risk free yields gained 15 basis points at the latest treasuries auction, while a ministerial decision to fix electricity and fuel prices announced this week threatens to send rates higher. . The average bids accepted for the 3-month bill rose to 17.09 percent, while 6-month bills edged […]
Sri Lanka trade deficit expands in April but BOP steady
June 14, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exports grew 11.5 percent and imports by 7.4 percent in the first four months of 2007, keeping the trade deficit at last year’s level, but the gap in the month of April itself widened, the Central Bank said.In April exports grew 6.8 percent to 535 million dollars, slower […]