Cabraal says that reserves were built to weather demanding situation, calls on the non-banking sector to seek funds from capital markets and wants it to target 70% of GDP by 2016 By Uditha Jayasinghe Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal yesterday defended declining reserves, insisting that they were built up to be used in times ...

First-of-its-kind innovative financing in the regionThe International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has extended a seven-year US$ 65 million (approximately Rs 7.4 billion) financing facility to the Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC to expand the latter’s lending to Small and Medium Enterprises (SME). IFC’s largest financial markets investment in Sri ...

By Ian The President in his speech at the opening of the Southern Expressway said that this could be the beginning of building a modern society. He also mentioned that had there been such an expressway linking the north with the south the extremists would not have succeeded in capitalising on the mistrust among communities. ...

The defeat of the LTTE in May 2009 has wrought a perceptible change in Sri Lanka’s economic climate, recognised by international financial institutions, foreign media and economic analysts, says in an article on Bangkok Post published on November 28. “Today they see Sri Lanka as one of Asia’s fast-growing nations with huge potential”, the report ...

Says depreciation by Budget only a one off, admits other sectors will suffer but notes growth will offset negatives By Uditha Jayasinghe The detriments of depreciation must be countered by aggressive growth in exports, the Central Bank Governor said yesterday, insisting that impediments to the industry had been removed by the latest Budget. Speaking for ...

By Cassandra Mascarenhas KPMG’s 10th Middle East and South Asia (MESA) Partners’ two-day conference was successfully concluded in Colombo on Tuesday. The event brought together over 100 partners from KPMG offices in 15 countries across the region. Ajith Nivard A key event in the firm’s global calendar, the two-day conference held at the Cinnamon Grand, ...

Arrenga Capital Research takes a deeper look at Budget 2012 and impact on select listed companies 1. A challenging deficit target – 6.2% of GDP in 2012 I. Government revenue targeted to grow by 20.2% YoY to Rs. 1,126.1 b (14.7% of GDP) II. Total Government expenditure to rise 14.1% YoY to Rs. 1,594.9 b ...

The rupee trading froze on Monday after President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced a surprise three per cent devaluation with immediate effect in the 2012 Budget speech to help exporters and cut import costs. Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said the devaluation would take effect from Tuesday, but assured that there wouldn’t be any further cut ...

By Marianne David, Dinali Goonewardene, Cheranka Mendis, Cassandra Mascarenhas, Devin Jayasundera and Chamitha Kuruppu Brandix CEO Ashroff Omar Overall, we are glad that all that we had asked for, having worked with the Treasury before the Budget, has come in. There are slight tweaks from our proposals to what has been given, but overall we ...

Reuters: Sri Lanka’s tea production fell in October for a seventh straight month due to adverse weather and a high base effect, the State-run Tea Board said on Friday. Tea production in October recorded 23.69 million kg against 27.88 million kg in the same month last year. The output in the first 10 months has ...

Analysts say sound fiscal programme for 2012 and medium term private sector oriented policy framework crucial for country to move forward putting behind controversial Expropriation Act Improving fiscal management gives hope for further progress Robust public investment programme; lower deficit; greater clarity and consistency taking on from 2011 Budget envisaged Budget 2012 tipped to showcase ...

Exports, imports up in Sept; Healthy financial inflows Two commercial banks infuse $ 250 m capital from overseas sources; corporate offshore debt capital raising tops $260 m Private sector borrowing averages Rs. 37 b per month in 2011 CB leaves policy rates unchanged for 10th straight month despite benign inflation and the inflation outlook Urges ...

The 17th SAARC summit ended on Friday with the adoption of a 20-point ‘Addu Declaration’ to forge effective cooperation among the member states in a host of areas including economy, connectivity, climate change and food security. The Addu Declaration was adopted at the concluding session in presence of all heads of government and states of ...

THE expected has happened. Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals have reached a new high and are set to keep climbing, but as with every silver lining one must not forget the dark cloud in its midst.   Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals in the first 10 months of the year have surpassed 2010’s record as visitors to ...

COLOMBO, (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals in the first 10 months of the year has surpassed 2010’s record as visitors to the island nation has continued to rise every month on a year-on-year basis since a 25-year civil war ended in May 2009. Tourist arrivals in the first 10 months of 2011 jumped 34.2 ...

India has become the first country to express displeasure at the US$ 50 visa charge as part of the new electronic system to be introduced in January. Is the Government trying to do too much too soon? The new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) replaces the free visa-on-arrival system and must be purchased online. Transit passengers ...

Sri Lanka’s economic progress gained acknowledgement when the World Bank on Thursday announced that Sri Lanka was the most business friendly country in South Asia. Yet the journey still looms long on several points. A new report from IFC and World Bank finds that the reforms implemented by Sri Lanka have helped create a much ...

Amidst woes in US and European markets, Sri Lanka’s apparel sector has survived to grow with the outlook for the next few quarters remaining positive, industry sources told the Daily FT yesterday. Whilst July saw earnings from textiles and garments increase year on year by 5% to US$ 385 million, the highest monthly value, August ...

Reuters: Sri Lanka’s tea production fell in September for a sixth straight month due to adverse weather in high growing areas, the State-run Tea Board said on Wednesday. Tea production in September recorded 22.93 million kg against 25.61 million kg in the same month last year. The output in the first nine months has slipped ...

Arguably the world’s most powerful leader, Barak Obama, underscored that the Eurozone crisis is “scaring the world”. It comes as no surprise then that his Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner heads the international clamour for more action to solve the burgeoning sovereign debt problem that has dominated financial markets in recent times. George Osborne, Britain’s current ...

The Central Bank yesterday indicated that the economy and markets, especially money, are stable, encouraging it to leave policy rates unchanged at its September monetary policy review. It said inflation continued to moderate with the year-on-year change in the Colombo Consumers’ Price Index declining from 7.0% in August to 6.4% in September 2011. Annual average ...

MOST countries use electronic visa systems to solve problems, but the imposition of a US$ 50 charge for visitors could result in the opposite happening in Sri Lanka. Operators could challenge Sri Lanka’s decision to introduce a $ 50 charge for all visitors to the country from 1 January 2012. The new Electronic Travel Authorisation ...

COLOMBO (Reuters): Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals rose 27.2 percent in September from a year earlier, continuing to rise every month on a year-on-year basis since a 25-year civil war ended in May 2009. The government is targeting annual revenue of $2.75 billion by 2016 from 2.5 million expected visitors attracted by Sri Lanka’s beaches, hills, ...

Lanka Business Coalition on HIV & AIDS had its Annual General Meeting at the Cinnamon Lake Side Hotel, Colombo on 29 September 2011 which was attended by the members of the Coalition. Membership includes all top corporates in Sri-Lanka such as John Keels, Standard Chartered Bank, Hayleys, Aitken Spence, HNB, Dialog, Chevron Lubricants, Brandix etc. ...

The Maldivian administration’s key economic strategy is to engage the private sector and enable the diversification of the economy for sustainable development, said Mahmood Razee, Minister of Economic Development in the Republic of Maldives who was in the country to attend the fourth Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka-Maldives Bilateral Business Council recently.   ...

Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa yesterday inaugurated the country’s largest ultra modern fuel station and shopping complex in Paradise, Kuruwita along the Colombo-Ratnapura road. This trade complex includes a fuel station, a Commercial Bank branch, ATM machines, a restaurant and a super market. The KDU Group of companies has planned this commercial trade complex to ...

More inflows into service, capital, financial accounts, says CB Rupee was under pressure due to heavy imports in Aug., Sept. Currency dealers wary on rupee stability By Shihar Aneez Reuters: Pressure on Sri Lanka’s rupee currency will recede in coming months due to increasing inflows into the country’s service, capital and financial accounts, the Central ...

Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) Chairman Dr. Priyath B. Wickrama made an exclusive presentation at the International Port Security Conference in the Netherlands on 28 September 2011. Expressing views delivering the keynote address at the International Port Security 2011 conference on the subject of the past successes of securing Sri Lankan ports and the predicted ...

Balance of Payments (BOP), which includes all foreign currency inflows and outflows, recorded a surplus of US$ 1,006 million by end July 2011. Gross official reserves, excluding Asian Clearing Union (ACU) balances, increased to US$ 8,099 million by end July 2011 from US$ 6,610 million by end 2010. The improved macroeconomic environment and several initiatives ...

Introduction Growth has stalled in the global economy. Stock markets have plummeted. Risk appetite has declined and there has been a flow of resources to safe havens. The IMF has stated that the world economy has entered its most dangerous phase since the financial crisis of 2008. The ammunition available to policymakers is much reduced ...