The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is optimistic of Sri Lanka's economic prospects and the country has taken several meaningful steps to thrust economic growth, said IMF Resident Representative in Sri Lanka Dr. Koshy Mathai.

Reuters: Asian shares edged higher and the dollar was firm against the yen on Monday with investors buoyed after the US market hit an almost four-year high last week and with higher European stocks reflecting signs of growing stability in the euro zone. The MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan index inched up 0.3 percent, after last ...

TOKYO: Japan and 12 other Asian countries will likely agree to double the amount of funds available under a regional currency swap pact amid uncertainty over the European debt crisis, a report said Sunday.  Japan, China, South Korea and the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are to agree to double ...

ATHENS (Reuters): Greece’s cabinet unanimously approved the terms of its international bailout on Wednesday, hours after euro zone countries formally approved the 130 billion euro financial package that Athens needs to stay afloat. The deal to keep Greece funded until 2014 will now be sent for approval to the Greek parliament, which is expected to ...

The Central Bank yesterday downgraded Sri Lanka’s 2012 growth forecast to 7.2% from 8%, but in a move that was unexpected by the market, kept its policy rates unchanged. The new projections come at the time when the rupee has hit record lows and the Central Bank is struggling to maintain high reserves. The statement ...

I never saw so many bad hats in my life - Arthur Wellesely –Duke of Wellington-1769-1852 (On seeing the first Reformist Parliament) The statement quoted at the outset was made by the Duke of Wellington regarding the members of the then British Parliament. I leave it to the readers to decide whether the same statement would hold ...

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

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: Greece claimed a major success for its bond swap offer to private creditors on Friday after it won heavy acceptance for a deal that averts the immediate risk of an uncontrolled default on its massive public debt.  The finance ministry said 85.8 percent of its 177 billion euros in bonds regulated under Greek law ...

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Reuters: High oil prices are fast replacing Europe as the biggest danger to growth in Asia, threatening to smother consumer demand while taking a knife to exports and reigniting inflation. Brent crude topping $ 128 a barrel is also a headache for central banks as it makes it harder to use easy monetary policy to ...

OIL seems to have returned to the headlines as reports indicate that India may be pressurising Sri Lanka to allocate it blocks in the Mannar Basin. An article in The Hindu remarks that India is persuading Sri Lanka to allocate oil exploration blocks in the waters that separate them, as it considers the location too ...

Reuters: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday forecast Sri Lanka s economic growth would ..

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

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 ...

Bank, which is under a $ 2.6 billion International Monetary Fund ...

Reuters: A planned referendum in Ireland and a German court ruling cast new uncertainty on Tuesday over efforts to overcome the euro zone’s debt crisis, just when a flood of central bank money appeared to be calming financial markets.  Ireland’s prickly electorate, which has twice voted “No” to European Union treaties before reversing itself, will ...

Reuters:German Chancellor Angela Merkel scraped through a parliamentary vote endorsing a second bailout for Greece on Monday but faced a growing backbench revolt against pouring in more money in support of the euro zone.  The comfortable 496-90 victory, with five abstentions, was inflated by centre-left opposition support, but only 304 of Merkel’s 330 centre-right coalition ...

Qatar has been ranked as the world’s wealthiest country in a new list compiled by US magazine Forbes, with Singapore placed third. The Gulf emirate of 1.7 million people topped the list as the world’s richest country per capita thanks to a rebound in oil prices and its massive natural gas reserves. Adjusted for purchasing ...

Reuters: Leading economies told Europe it must put up extra money to fight its debt crisis if it wants more help from the rest of the world, piling pressure on Germany to drop its opposition to a bigger European bailout fund.  Euro zone countries pledged on Sunday, at a meeting of finance leaders from the ...

Global finance chiefs working on big rescue deal Germany to consider stronger European firewall G20 wants European action before giving IMF more funds Oil price jump seen as threat to tentative global economy MEXICO CITY (Reuters): The world’s leading economies worked on Sunday to line up a deal in April on a second global rescue ...

LONDON (Reuters): Consumer confidence jumped in the United States at the end of last year but deteriorated in struggling euro zone countries as policymakers failed to get control over the region’s debt crisis, a survey showed last week. Global consumer confidence rose slightly from the third quarter, according to the Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index, ...

Reuters: Markets across the assets rose on Monday as policy easing by China and expectations that Greece will secure a second bailout buoyed investor appetite for riskier assets, sending U.S. crude and copper up nearly 2 percent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.1 percent to its highest in 6-1/2 months. ...

Reuters: Greece’s cabinet on Saturday approved a final set of austerity measures sought by the EU and IMF as a condition for a 130-billion euro rescue package, raising the chances of a deal next week to avert a chaotic default on its debt. The approval was largely a formality after Athens last week unveiled details ...

SHANGHAI: China cut the amount of cash that banks must set aside as reserves for the second time in three months to spur lending as Europe’s debt crisis and a cooling property market threaten economic growth. Reserve requirements will fall by 50 basis points to 20.5% effective Feb. 24 the People’s Bank of China said ...

TOKYO: Asian shares and the euro fell on Thursday, sharply reversing the previous day’s rally as optimism was dashed by another delay in cementing a crucial bailout for stricken Greece, underscoring how far away Europe is from resolving its debt crisis.  After a three-hour teleconference between euro zone finance ministers, questions remain over the euro ...

Reuters: China will continue to invest in euro zone government debt, the country’s central bank governor said on Wednesday, while calling on Europeans to produce more attractive investment products for China. Zhou Xiaochuan admitted that China and other emerging nations like Brazil, Russia or India were waiting for the right time to help the bloc, ...

(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 ...