It is pleasant to lead a peaceful life with no encumbrances and without debts. In the modern world, debt has become a part of life like breath. In Sri Lankan society, it has not been the case and the practice before. It has been a burden and a commitment for somebody to live in a ...

Access Engineering Ltd. yesterday announced that its Rs. 500 million IPO was oversubscribed within a few hours of opening. As the IPO was oversubscribed, the subscription list closed on 6 March 2012, the official day of opening of the IPO, according to the regulations laid down by the Colombo Stock Exchange. The company issued 20 ...

Scanning through the papers recently after the Central Bank of Sri Lanka published its 2011 external sector performance report, I was reminded of a pithy observation made by William W. Watt: “Do not put your faith in what statistics say until you have carefully considered what they do not say.” Some of the data were ...

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 ...

The Treasury has defended the Government’s recent decision to increase fuel prices ranging from 30% to 50%, linking it to spikes in global prices, rising losses for CPC and the need to safeguard subsidies to the people. In a statement posted on the Treasury’s website, the Finance Ministry has responded to various allegations as well ...

Managed to divert from crisis to stability through policy changes By Cheranka Mendis Sri Lanka, teetering on the brink of a crisis, just managed to save itself through the recent policy measures taken by the Government such as the exchange rate changes, said the Commonwealth Secretariat Economic Affairs Division’s former Director Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy yesterday. ...

By Cheranka Mendis Gathered to discuss the implications, opportunities and challenges of the sudden announcement and introduction of the Government’s new policies, the export community was advised by a panel of experts to watch ahead, be prepared and make their own judgments from the information provided. With the country facing no immediate risks of getting ...

Reuters: Sri Lanka expects crude imports from Iran to drop by at least 10 per cent this year due to a range of inflation-fighting policies that should cool demand, potentially helping it find a way around US sanctions, a Government official said on Friday. The island is facing one of the biggest squeezes from the ...

Avoiding a crisis The Pathfinder Foundation (PF) commends the Treasury and Central Bank for the policy measures introduced recently. This has prevented an external payments crisis. Without remedial action, the country would not have been able to meet its debt obligations and/or finance essential imports within a short period of time. The increases in the ...

Sharp reduction in vegetables prices thanks to higher output could help soften an otherwise sharp spike in inflation following the unprecedented fuel hike and devaluation of the rupee, according to analysts. In recent weeks, prices of vegetables have dropped by as much as 50% or more and this development will make the additional cost following ...

SRI LANKA is still electrified by the unprecedented fuel hike and the fallout continues to grow. On Wednesday a fishermen was shot dead as protestors clashed with the police in Chilaw prompting the Government to issue an immediate subsidy. JVP protesters were tear-gassed and the Political rhetoric continued for a fourth day as the Government ...

Contrary to Government assurance of minimal impact from the unprecedented fuel hike of Sunday, a set of upward price revisions including on bus fares and electricity will become reality from today. Striking private bus operators yesterday won their demand with the Government agreeing to let fares up by 20% with minimum ticket priced at Rs. ...

“We have to give the rural people who comprises 80% of our population the results of giant development works we have initiated in the country. It is not only an expectation but also a challenge which we are ready to take up,” President Mahinda Rajapaksa said. Addressing the 64th Independence Day celebrations at Anuradhapura on ...

By Sydney Knight Galle Literary Festival Panel: Writing political realities into fiction and journalism. This program enabled me to listen to Romesh Gunesekera, Irfan Husain and Susan Minot. All three writers certainly had a message. However, what struck a chord in my system was the story from Uganda. The story of the Nun and the ...

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka recently unveiled its pioneering Sixth Strategic Plan – communicating in all transparency its plans for the forthcoming financial period – based on the theme ‘Raising the Bar’. The Sixth Strategic Plan, like its predecessors, takes root from the policy measures underscored in the ‘Mahinda Chinthana,’ and is formulated to ...

“Our sense is that if we do not act boldly and if we do not act together, the economy around the world runs the risk of a downward spiral of uncertainty, financial instability and potential collapse of global demand… we could run the risk of what some commentators are already calling the lost decade” – ...

If the Governor of Central Bank has an urge to enter politics, he should come to Parliament without playing politics inside the CB, charges United National Party Parliamentarian and well-known Economist Dr. Harsha de Silva. Dr. de Silva notes that Governor Nivard Cabraal should respect the sanctity of the Central Bank and therefore if Cabraal ...

Today, as much as China is the centre of global manufacturing, India has become the international hub for global service industries. India’s IT and outsourcing exports amount to over US$ 50 billion. The economic resurgence of China and India has also made way for the emergence of Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam as manufacturing bases. ...

A survey conducted last week on the health of the Sri Lankan economy revealed that almost 64% said that the Government had done its task but only 43% had said that there had been growth in the economy. Whilst some can say that this data is strange, a similar set of information was shared at ...

SEOUL(Reuters): Hyundai Motor and affiliate Kia Motors aim to boost global vehicle sales by 6 percent this year to a combined 7 million vehicles, which would mark a slowdown for a duo that has enjoyed double-digit sales rises in recent years. The South Korean automakers, which together rank fifth in global car sales, are unable ...

Attention to human resources In the management and organisational literature, as well as in practice, increasing attention has recently been paid to the importance of human resources in organisations. There seems to be a growing consensus that in many organisations these are the most critical of all resources. The purpose of this article is to ...

After the recent Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India, critics found three new words for the acronym ‘CWG’ – Corruption, Waste and lack of Governance. The Chairman of the Indian National Olympic Committee, who was Chairman of the Organising Committee, is presently in Tihar Jail, in Delhi with many of his acolytes, on charges regarding ...

UNP Co-Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya The Budget lacks direction and is neither here or there. For the consumer, it is inflationary; nor does it instil investor confidence. It has a political aim but lacks an economic aim. Furthermore, it does not address the productivity of employment; nor does it address the salaries of professionals and ...

By Chamitha Kuruppu Demanding a Rs. 10,000 salary increment for the State sector and a 40 per cent increase for the private sector, the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party complained that citizens in this country are ‘in misery’ due to the ‘bankrupt’ economic and political policies of the present Government and that the Government ...

Following is a statement on the Expropriation Bill by UNP Deputy Leader Karu JayasuriyaThe might of numbers in Parliament steamrolled the plight of the private sector albeit the nation last week. Notwithstanding widespread protests, the Government has placed in the statute books the draconian Revival of Underperforming Enterprises and Underutilised Act. That 37 business enterprises, ...

Discussion on the validity of non-military engagements of the military The war or internal armed conflict in the north and east is over; the Emergency is no more; but still the military is everywhere. The military is now engaged in peacetime police-work, whale watching, selling vegetables, agriculture, cleaning, constructions and many other non-military activities. Yet, ...

MJF Group Director Operations Malik J. Fernando has called for a Master Plan for the plantation sector. In a press statement issued this week, Fernando says an industry-wide Master Plan is required for Sri Lanka’s 150-year-old plantation industry to realign itself with internal and external changes and to remain competitive. “We need to develop a ...

Following is the address delivered by Senior Minister for International Monetary Cooperation Dr. Sarath Amunugama at the fourth South Asia Economic Summit (SAES IV) Plenary Session: In the aftermath of the global economic crisis, there has been a noticeable shift in economic clout, moving from the USA and the debt-plagued countries of the Eurozone, to ...

Global banking giant HSBC is upbeat on Sri Lanka’s external trade, predicting exponential growth above global average over the next 15 years. In its October 2011 dated HSBC Trade Connections Trade Forecast Quarterly Update, HSBC said Sri Lanka’s external trade would grow in volume terms by 105% by 2025 and value wise by 83% to ...

I like to be an optimist. No matter what may happen around us, I would like to retain feelings of hope I have for all human-kind and on a more intimate level for you, for me, the newborn and the to-be-born. Yet, what has already happened around me, happening now and may happen in the ...