By CT Smith Stockbrokers CBSL tightens its monetary policy for the second time in 2012 In its Monetary Policy Review for April, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) increased its repurchase rate and reverse repurchase rate by 25bps and 75bps to 7.75% and 9.75% respectively (w.e.f. end 5th April 2012) in order to further ...

Central bank Governor says country is targeting per capita income of $4,000 by 2015Ajit Nivard Cabraal is a man intimately associated with the economic development of Sri Lanka. Well before he became the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, in 2006, Cabraal was the chief economic adviser to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was ...

in the Sri Lankan Rupee (SLR), resulting in a sharp, and ...

Mar 25, Colombo: Dr. P. B. Jayasundera, Secretary to the Treasury expects the Sri Lankan rupee exchange rate with US dollar to stabilize at around Rs.125 in a 2-3 week time.

Peninsula, DOHA:  The Sri Lankan rupee which has been fast tumbling against the dollar is expected to recover soon, and might actually begin appreciating, says Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal. The official said that the rupee now ruling at 120 a dollar will start

A Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister today admitted that the country is facing economic difficulties, but added the issue is common for the entire world. Minister of Health Maithreepala Sirisena says it is in this backdrop the government had to take hard decisions such as raising fuel prices and imposing a fuel surcharge on electricity bills. Sirisena says ...

(Srilankamirror) - The Sri Lankan rupee opened weaker at 120.30/35 against the US dollar in the spot dollar market. It drifted lower as the foreign exchange market continued to look for direction but stocks opened stronger, LBO reports. Colombo All Share Index rose 1.6 percent

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank says the current developments taking place in the Forex market, which dealers describe as “volatile” is only a temporary development. The Bank says the recent depreciation of the Sri Lankan rupee seems to be a reaction of forex dealers, which it says are adjusting

(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 ...

(Srilankamirror) - The Sri Lankan rupee closed at 117.25/40 against the US dollar today, down from Friday's close of 115.20/30 in a second day of trading without Central Bank intervention. The rupee drifted lower in intra-day trading but recovered towards the end of the day, LBO reports

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. "The need is no longer there. Our (foreign currency) reserves are at fairly comfortable levels," Central Bank o...

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 ...

The Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) has opined the Central Bank’s forecast of $ 25 billion foreign inflow as “optimistic” given external headwinds whilst cautioning that pressure was mounting on the rupee given the rising import demand. This view along with weaker GDP forecast is contained in SCB's latest country update titled 'A challenging year ahead' ...

RAM Ratings Lanka has reaffirmed Tokyo Cement Company (Lanka) PLC’s long- and short-term corporate credit ratings of A and P2 respectively. The long term rating carries a stable outlook. The ratings are supported by its sizable market share, its healthy balance sheet, and the healthy debt coverage levels. The above positives are, however, moderated by ...

In a major indictment on the country’s macro stability and a wakeup call to policy makers, Fitch Ratings yesterday warned that Sri Lanka has now become one of the four highest-risk financial systems in Asia Pacific and nine in the world. The warning on and labelling of Sri Lanka comes ahead of Christmas and could ...

their personal views and criticizing the devaluation of the Sri Lankan Rupee. It is with the approval ...

Colombo (Srilankamirror) - IMF resident representative Koshy Mathai has said the devaluation of the Sri Lankan rupee was a good step. The measure should support the nation's export competitiveness and safeguard its reserves over the medium-term, he has told Reuters via email. "

The premier private sector lobby Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) yesterday welcomed the 2012 Budget and emphasised that it looked forward to working with the Government with regard to implementation. The chamber issued a statement yesterday after a careful study of the proposals in Budget 2012 presented by President and Finance Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on ...

Research issue Sri Lanka’s growth cannot be examined in isolation. This is because its economy is intricately interwoven to its neighbours and other countries through commercial, political and cultural links. The sustainability of any growth strategy adopted by the country will depend on the stability of different partnerships and the ability of the country to ...

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 Sri Lankan Rupee is a signal on moving towards a ...

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 ...

MP charges that Government is focusing only on physical infrastructure and adopting a top-down development approach instead of a more inclusive and participatory humane political futureUnited National Party Parliamentarian Eran Wickramaratne asserts that the Government is depleting the resources of the municipality on an election extravaganza. In a candid interview with the Daily FT, the ...

By Simon Montlake Forbes.com: On my first trip back to Sri Lanka since February 2010, I noticed plenty of positive changes. New construction, cleaner streets and a lighter security presence (a bloody civil war ended in May 2009). The IMF predicts Sri Lanka’s economy will expand this year by 7.5%, keeping pace with next-door giant ...

The Sri Lankan rupee has appreciated. According to the Central Bank, the rupee has appreciated 0.96 percent against the Dollar. The Central Bank attributed this development to the increased foreign investment. Such investments for the first half of this year have reached 413 million US Dollars

Minister Basil Rajapaksa has said that the effort of the Government was to continuously safeguard the economic growth achieved after the victory over terrorism and accelerate it. Sri Lanka has achieved a higher economic growth after the military victory. Even a considerable growth has been recorded in the tourism sector. Minister Basil Rajapaksa said that ...

By Ashwin Hemmathagama National Insurance Trust Fund (NITF) was created by an Act of Parliament in the year 2006. A subsequent amendment, No 28 of 2007 has empowered NITF to accept compulsory reinsurance cession from local insurance companies. NITF has fixed the compulsory cession at 20% of the general insurance programmes of all insurance companies ...

The Central Bank says that the value of the Sri Lankan Rupee has appreciated. The Central Bank said this clearly indicates the growth achieved in Sri Lanka’s economy. The foreign exchange value of the Sri Lankan rupee had increased in comparison to the US Dollar. Latest statistics of the Central

The Central Bank has said that the remittances made by expatriate Sri Lankans have steadily increased. The foreign Exchange reserves have increased by 3.8 billion US dollars since the country was liberated from terrorism. Financial aid received by people in the North and East, as well as sustained inflows from the Middle East have contributed ...

by Anusha Ondaatjie Remittances sent home by Sri Lankan nationals overseas may rise to a record $3.8 billion in 2010, a central bank official said, adding that policy makers will ensure stability of the currency as the flows increase....