Although the Asian region is better prepared for economic turmoil than it was a decade ago, high levels of financial, trade and investment integration with the Western economies ensure that no country is immune to the effects of the Eurozone debt crisis. While most of the European Union (EU) economies struggle to design new austerity measures to ...

A number of articles which appeared in print media in the recent past signify the volatility in the economy. High volatility leads to vulnerability. Volatility and vulnerability are reflections of the haphazard nature of the economic policies and poor economic governance in a country. What is volatility? Volatility is the severity and the frequency with ...

A goat’s best friend is Mervyn! The populace has been cruel to him. Ok, to the goat too, but I am talking about a man willing to be incarcerated just to liberate a hapless animal. Thankfully, the President interceded and saved the day for both. The Minister had promised to defy a Court order and ...

NAIROBI (Reuters): Kenya’s horticulture export earnings are expected to grow by 10%this year thanks to above-normal rainfall, but the eurozone’s financial woes were expected to dampen demand for flowers, a senior industry official said on Monday. Horticulture is one of the east African country’s leading sources of foreign exchange alongside tea exports and tourism. The ...

The Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) together with the Bucks University featured the 2012 award winners from Singapore of global business associations and chief marketing officers under the theme ‘Is The Party Over?’ at Galadari Hotel, where a select audience of 200 business and marketers attended the event. Some of the key points discussed ...

Given first half performance, believes several 2012 Roadmap targets will be missed UNP MP and its chief spokesman on the economy Dr. Harsha de Silva yesterday claimed that most of the Central Bank’s 2012 Roadmap targets were likely to be missed, based on below par performance on the external trade front during the first half. ...

By Shanuka Tissera Leading bankers were given the opportunity to discuss the method of approvals of OPIC funding and political risk insurance, facilitated by the International Executive Service Corps (IESC) and the American Chamber of Commerce Sri Lanka (AMCHAM) for US equity sponsored projects. The keynote address was delivered by the Governor of the Central ...

BANGKOK, THAILAND: Myanmar could follow Asia’s fast growing economies and expand at 7% to 8% a year, become a middle income nation, and triple per capita income by 2030 if it can surmount substantial development challenges by further implementing across-the-board reforms, a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) study says. ”Myanmar’s strategic location, rich natural resources ...

Ever since the first aircraft was conceptualised by Leonardo Da Vinci, the dream of flight is still continuously evolving. The latest aircraft is known as the dream liner Boeing 787. There has been no end to the technological advances in aviation. The global aviation industry has since been enlarged into a multibillion dollar business and ...

Playing off India against China and vice versa‘The Great Game’ was the name given to a diplomatic and military tussle between the British and Russian empires during the time of the British Raj in India for influence over what constitutes today’s central Asian states. Commonly known as the ‘Stan states,’ they were located along the ...

With the opening dates of terminals in the Colombo South Harbour Project in Sri Lanka and Deep Water Container Port in Pakistan now set as 2013 and 2014 respectively, port development in the South Asian region is about to enter another era. When completed, the new deep sea ports in Karachi and Colombo will have ...

 British HC commends Sri Lanka for progress made over the years By Cheranka Mendis Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chairman Susantha Ratnayake yesterday called for a new wave of reforms if the country were to come out of current shocks quickly with the least amount of pain. In his address at the chamber’s 173rd Annual General Meeting, ...

Following is the part one of the Daily FT article featuring the Acuity Stockbrokers Research on Economy and Strategy titled “Lion Leads Frontier” launched last week. Better than the rest General frontier market risks remain pertinent to Sri Lanka Investors in frontier markets are well aware of the risk-return tradeoff intrinsic to these markets. Low ...

By B.A.B. Goonetilleke Sometime in 2009, in what was to become a defining moment in the new Digital Age, Bradley Manning, a 24-year-old Army private based at an outpost in Iraq, began to download a veritable trove of classified cables dispatched by US missions around the world on to a thumb drive. Whether Manning stepped ...

By Cassandra Mascarenhas The third and final day of the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2012 organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce commenced with a plenary session titled ‘Skills and Productivity to Compete in the Global Market,’ which discussed the initiatives that are underway and aimed to identify additional steps required to improve the quality ...

By Cassandra Mascarenhas Setting its sights on placing Sri Lanka in the global economy and expanding its reach in overseas markets, the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2012, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce’s annual flagship event, aptly themed ‘Positioning Sri Lanka in the Global Economy,’ commenced last evening at the Cinnamon Grand. In the context of ...

WASHINGTON: Developing countries should prepare for a long period of volatility in the global economy by re-emphasising medium-term development strategies, while preparing for tougher times, says the World Bank in the newly-released Global Economic Prospects (GEP), June 2012. A resurgence of tensions in high-income Europe has eroded the gains made during the first four months ...

The Oxford Dictionary definition of ‘inept’ is ‘acting or done with no skill’. An ineptitude results is such behaviour being manifested An ‘Inept’ocracy’ has been defined in the Urban Dictionary as ‘a system of government, where the least capable to lead are elected, by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society ...

Peter Kropotkin is a Russian revolutionist who has commented in his book ‘The Conquest of Bread’ what he considers to be the weaknesses of the economic systems of capitalism and how poverty and scarcity thrives on. However, Kropotkin did not believe in the theory of state and is known as an anarchist. The issue of ...

With highest-ever top and bottom line performance premier blue chip JKH says knowing exactly who were are, what we stand for and where we are headed makes all the differenceI am pleased to present the Integrated Annual Report, and the Statement of Accounts, for the Financial Year ended 31 March 2012. The Report encapsulates the ...

With the end of the war, there was a desire throughout the country for a peace dividend. Over the 30 years of the conflict, pent-up demand had built up both for consumption and investment expenditure. The authorities were under intense political pressure to create an environment that was conducive to finance imports of consumption goods, ...

By Damien The Secretary to the treasury Dr. P.B Jayasundera recently made statement that the country is wasting the foreign currency on things that can be made in this country. I would like to add to this by stating that as a country we should have clear targets and policies that are aimed at both ...

Key insights to state of the economy and market and future prospects from NDB Stockbrokers’ latest Sri Lanka Equities report Uncertainty in the macro environment The robust economic growth and steep rise in global crude oil prices increased Sri Lanka’s import bill by 51% in 2011. As a result the trade deficit widened, putting the ...

After the LTTE was defeated, a campaign designed to promote Sri Lanka as a leisure and investment destination labelled ‘The Small Miracle’ was shot down, ostensibly on the ground that the miracle was in no way ‘small’. The marketing value in Sri Lanka’s compact size, our rich biodiversity, the diversity of leisure locations and physical ...