Rising inflation coupled with state owned Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s (CBSL’s) huge stock of Treasury (T) Bills holdings helped T Bill yields to continue to make gains at last week’s T Bill auction as well. As a result, the weighted average yields for T Bills of all three tenures, namely 91, 182 and 364 ...

Sri Lanka has met the monetary and fiscal targets set forth by the IMF for the quarter ended 30.6.12., IMF’s Resident Representative in Colombo Dr. Koshy Mathai told a forum here on Wednesday. Those also include the net reserve target (ie  Government of Sri Lanka’s (GoSL’s) foreign exchange

This country’s history is repeating itself with deadly accuracy. Last week Gotabaya Rajapaksa reiterated what Sinhalese leaders have been saying since the parting of ways with the Tamils in 1958. In an interview with the BBC on Monday (May12) Rajapaksa was asked about ‘a recent local government reshuffle in the north which has seen some ...

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Sri Lanka’s Foreign- and Local-Currency IDRs at ‘BB-’. The Outlook for both the ratings is Stable. The Country Ceiling has also been affirmed at ‘BB-’, and the Short-Term Foreign Currency IDR at ‘B’. “The ratings reflect Fitch’s view that the authorities have taken the appropriate action to correct recent pressure o...

and shore up foreign exchange reserves, which had been drained owing largely to ...

The challenges Sri Lanka has to face in its march towards development are manifold. Although the war has ended the wrong political ideologies, the proposals and timetables it created are still in operation. By Government Information Department Additional Director General Chandrapala Liyanage Similarly, various social activity groups and individuals and organisations operating under the advice ...

Parliamentary accountability The Parliament, as the country’s foremost representative institution, has the sole authority over national resources and financial allocations and concurrently has a prominent role to play in fiscal responsibility, the budgetary process, economic development and effective transparent economic and financial management, with a view to assuring sustainable growth an...

Reuters: Sri Lanka's rupee closed a tad firmer on Friday on light inflows from worker remittances and low importer dollar demand a day after the island nation's treasury secretary forecast the currency would strengthen to at least 125, dealers said. The rupee closed at 130.00/130.10 a dollar, edging up from Thursday's close of 130.10/130.30. It ...

 Rupee to strengthen to at least 125/dlr-Treasury sec Dealers wary of rupee rebound as CB buys dollars Stock market down; foreign outflow at Rs. 10.4 m Reuters: Sri Lanka’s rupee closed a tad firmer on Thursday after the island nation’s treasury secretary forecast the currency would stabilise at 125 to the dollar, dealers said. An ...

Reuters: Sri Lanka’s economic growth forecast will be lowered to a range of seven per cent to 7.5 percent due to tighter monetary policy and a rupee depreciation aimed at cutting the trade and current account deficits, the Central Bank said on Monday. Central Bank Chief Economist Swarna Gunaratne also told Reuters the 2011 balance-of-payments ...

SRI LANKA’S fabled post-war window of opportunity seems to be closing, with the Central Bank following the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in reducing growth rates for 2012. But does that mean only gloom awaits Sri Lanka or can we ride out the tide and reach the golden shores? The Central Bank had originally forecast this ...

By Dr. Arujuna Sivananthan The consensus view is that Sri Lanka is in the midst of a Balance of Payment (BOP) crisis. It usually follows a period of large capital inflows and rapid economic growth. However, due to conflicting policy responses or policy slippage including irresponsible credit creation, an economy finds itself in a position ...

Reuters: The Central Bank will soon lower its 2012 growth forecast of eight per cent to a figure no lower than seven per cent, owing to tighter monetary policy measures and the depreciation of the rupee, the Bank’s overnor told Reuters on Friday. The bank had originally forecast this year’s growth at eight per cent, ...

Reuters: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday forecast Sri Lanka’s economic growth would cool to less than 7.5% due to its tighter monetary policy and currency depreciation measures, aimed at cutting the trade and current account deficits. The global lender has withheld the last $800 million left in a $2.6 billion loan program since ...

Tyranny of the international capital markets Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, ex-Central Banker and International Civil Servant, did not mince words when he addressed the country’s exporters last week. The veteran economist, having made an assessment of the risks associated with Sri Lanka’s external sector crisis, warned that the country will have to grapple with “the tyranny ...

Reuters: Sri Lanka’s rupee ended weaker on Wednesday on importer dollar demand, as traders shrugged off Central Bank intervention signals and rating agencies warned the sovereign rating may be at risk due to a potential balance-of-payments problem. The rupee closed at 121.80/122.00 to the dollar, against Tuesday’s close of 121.40/60, on importer dollar demand in ...

CB says will intervene in high volatility Dealers say CB employing moral suasion By Shihar Aneez and Ranga Sirilal COLOMBO (Reuters): Sri Lanka’s rupee hit a new record low on Tuesday on importer dollar demand, but a State bank sold greenbacks to reverse the drop in an apparent break with the Central Bank’s new policy ...

Sri Lanka may remove a 10 per cent price trading limit on some stocks listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange, according to its Chief Executive Officer. The Bourse planned to introduce a “transparent, Sri Lanka-centric” volatility management mechanism, CEO Surekha Sellahewa said yesterday, without giving a timeframe. Stocks identified using a formula designed by the ...

(Bloomberg): Sri Lanka doesn’t need to further tighten monetary policy for now even though an increase in fuel and transportation costs and a weakening currency may stoke inflation, the head of the central bank said. The central bank’s rate increase earlier this month will have a “demand-driven impact” and help moderate inflation, its Governor Ajith ...

Sri Lanka’s benchmark stock index, the world’s worst performer this year, may extend its slump as the central bank raises interest rates to curb inflation, according to HSBC Holdings Plc’s private banking unit. HSBC Private Bank, which oversees about $499 billion, will wait for stock valuations to fall to “single digit” multiples before it considers ...

Reuters: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday welcomed Sri Lanka’s policy shift towards a flexible exchange rate, saying it will help contain the trade deficit and protect the nation’s dwindling foreign exchange reserves. In a marked policy shift, Sri Lanka’s Central

By Jyoti Malhotra Business Standard (New Delhi): India’s promise to sell two Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) to Sri Lanka, during their first-ever defence dialogue in New Delhi last week, as well as the recent agreement to build an electricity transmission line from Madurai to Trincomalee and connect the electricity grids of the two countries, is ...

(Srilankamirror) -The International Monetary Fund says it is encouraged by Sri Lanka's monetary and exchange rate policy changes amid a sharp drop in foreign exchange reserves and significant widening of the current account deficit. "There was broad agreement that a decisive policy

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday said it was encouraged by Sri Lanka's monetary and exchange rate policy changes amid a sharp drop in foreign exchange reserves and significant...

Chemanex Group of Companies (a member of the CIC Holdings Group of Companies), a globally recognised corporate leader in manufacturing and exporting value-added speciality compounds and intermediates, added another feather to its cap with the soft opening of its subsidiary Chemcel Ltd.’s state-of-the-art Carboxy Methylated Starch (CMS) extrusion plant, which took place last week. The ...

Sri Lanka said Tuesday it did not need the final tranche of a $2.6-billion IMF bailout thanks to the country's healthy foreign exchange reserves.

COLOMBO — Sri Lanka said Tuesday it did not need the final tranche of a $2.6-billion IMF bailout thanks to the country's healthy foreign exchange reserves.   The loan was granted in 2009 by the International Monetary Fund just after the end of the country's bloody ethnic civil war

Sri Lanka said Tuesday it did not need the final tranche of a $2.6-billion IMF bailout thanks to the country’s healthy foreign exchange reserves.

Sri Lanka said Tuesday it did not need the final tranche of a $2.6-billion IMF bailout thanks to the country's healthy foreign exchange reserves.