Category: Economy and Markets
Sri Lanka to revamp consumer price index as inflation soars
Feb 22, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Thursday it plans to rejig its consumer price index basket to reflect changed food and lifestyle trends as inflation based on a decades-old range of items crossed 20 percent in January.The Colombo Consumer Price Index has attracted widespread criticism because it is based on a formula better […]
Fewer Sri Lankans work abroad due to war, better pay at home
Feb 21, 2007 (AFP) – War in the Middle East and equal paying jobs at home led to a sharp drop in Sri Lankans working abroad in 2006 as maids, clerks and professionals opted to stay put, an official said Wednesday.To make it more attractive, the government now planned to raise the minimum wage to […]
Sri Lanka exports to India drops for the first time on trade wars
Feb 19 (LBO) – For the first time in a decade, Sri Lanka’s exports to India dropped last year, following trade disputes over the island’s duty free access into India for vegetable oil, spices and copper. Sri Lanka and India have duty free or preferential access into each other’s markets for over 4000 goods, under […]
British debt relief to Sri Lanka held back over human rights and defence spending
Feb 18 (LBO) – Millions of pounds worth debt-relief to Sri Lanka is hanging in the balance with Britain saying that queries have been raised over human rights, rising defence spending and ongoing hostilities. The British move comes within months of Germany halting new aid to the country. In 2005, Britain has agreed to pay […]
Sri Lanka housing bank to raise 500 million rupees and branch out to lifestyle loans
Feb 15, 2007 (LBO) – HDFC Bank is to raise 500 million rupees through a 4-year debenture shortly and branch out into related lending schemes officials said.The 4-year debenture would be privately placed by the First Capital group CEO, C A Sarathchandra said. The bank, which gives housing mortgages up to 15-years also give lifestyle […]
Sri Lanka exports slow in 2006; remittances and borrowings bridge the gap
February 12 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exports growth slowed to 8.4 percent in 2006 from 10.2 percent, while imports grew by 15.7 percent, widening the trade balance by a third to 3.3 billion US dollars, the Central Bank said Tuesday. Private remittances grew by 21 per cent to 2,326 million US dollars containing the current […]
‘s business confidence
Feb 13, 2007 (AFP) – High taxes and rigid labour laws are weighing on business confidence in troubled Sri Lanka, which is one of the worst places to do business in South Asia, a new World Bank study says. An upsurge in violence over the past year alone has killed more than 4,000 people, leaving […]
‘s western province, bad policies worsen it elsewhere
February 08 (LBO) – Economic reforms has slashed poverty in Sri Lanka’s western province while backward policies that kept agriculture stagnant in rural areas were trapping people in poverty, researchers have found. Poverty in the western province fell from 19 to 11 percent between 1991 and 2002, with the region growing at twice or three […]
Sri Lanka government treasuries edge up in tight conditions
February, 07 (LBO) – Sri Lanka treasuries yields edged up by an average 24 basis points at Wednesday’s auction, the public debt office reported, but dealers said cut-off rates had moderated from a week earlier.The weighted average yield for all maturities went up to 13.64 percent from 13.4 percent a week earlier. Three month bills […]
Philippines inflation hits 3-year low at 3.9 percent in January
MANILA, Feb 6, 2007 (AFP) – The Philippines posted an inflation rat of 3.9 percent in January, the slowest pace of price increases in 39 months, the government said Tuesday.Inflation stood at 3.6 percent in October 2003. The January figure was at the low end of the central bank’s projected range of between 3.9 and […]
’s tax department tries to rope in larger numbers of taxpayers
Jan 30, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tax office is moving towards increasing the number of taxpayers to five percent of the total population, a top official said. At present, only about two percent of the population in Sri Lanka are income tax payers, Commissioner General of Inland Revenue said at a workshop organized by […]
Sri Lanka advised to boost reserves as IMF quits the country
February 02 (LBO) –Sri Lanka should have a higher target for foreign exchange reserves in 2007 the World Bank said, days before its Bretton Woods twin, the International Monetary Fund closed its office in Sri Lanka. Analysts say the tight monetary policy that started in December is helping the rupee, as is the current petroleum […]