Sri Lanka’s inflation, measured by the National Consumer Price Index, gained pace in June to 2.4 percent from a year ago, from 1.6 percent through May, as the food prices rose in June, largely due to the weather-related disruptions to the crops.
As Sri Lanka grapples with the ongoing global economic challenges, a senior economist asserted the urgent need for the island nation to integrate into the global value chain, so that it can achieve its ambitious growth plans.
Amid the intensified government efforts to capitalise on trade liberalisation through new preferential agreements, international trade experts stress the need for structural changes in Sri Lanka’s production sector before pursuing new pacts.
Sri Lanka is upbeat about firming up talks with the bondholders, which will assist the island nation to come out of the ‘selective default’ status faster. President Ranil Wickremesinghe shared that finalisations can be reached as early as next week.
Since official creditors provide debt relief through maturity extensions and interest rate reductions, there is no immediate impact on the nominal debt stock through restructuring, the Ministry of Finance said.
India continues to show interest in Sri Lanka’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The majority of the bidders for the government-owned Canwill Holdings (Pvt.) Ltd are from the neighbouring giant. While a total of six companies have prequalified as bidders for the divestiture of the government’s shares in Canwill Holdings, five are from India and one is from Sri Lanka. The State-Owned Enterprises Restructuring Unit of the Finance Ministry shared tha
Sri Lanka closed 2023 with its first balance of payment (BOP) surplus in four years and the highest since 2017, as the country recorded a positive balance in the external account of US $ 2,826 million last year. This is in comparison to the deficit of US $ 2,806 million recorded in 2022, when the country fell into its worst economic crisis caused by the shortage of foreign currency. The last time the country recorded a positive BOP was back in 20
The foreign investors were adding Sri Lankan government securities into their holdings in the last couple of weeks, reversing a recent sell off seen in the middle of January. According to the data, the foreigners had added Rs.5,470 million worth of treasury bills and bonds in the last two weeks, at Rs.3,636 million and Rs.1,834 million, respectively, bringing the total foreign holdings of rupee treasuries to Rs.114,413 million. For the year howev
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) has released the ‘Capital Market Strategy 2020’, a comprehensive transformative plan for Sri Lanka’s capital market, with the intention of providing strategic clarity to market participants and the public.
The common opposition, fielding Maithripala Sirisena as its presidential candidate, recently pledged to replace the current consumption-led economy with a more sustainable manufacturing-led model.Sri Lanka skipped industrialization, trading for an easy service economy, which currently accounts for 59 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This has made the country import-dependant even on certain basic necessities.
Sri Lanka’s January – October YoY exports have improved 9 percent while an export product that recently faced volatile EU markets showed a promising turnaround, a statement by Industry and Commerce Ministry said.“For the month of October 2014 alone our provisional exports were at US $ 900 million and this is only merchandise exports without taking into account service exports such as ICT,” Export Development Board CEO/
Sri Lanka’s inflation in November fell for the fourth consecutive month Year-on-Year (YoY) to 1.5 percent from 1.6 percent a month ago, recording the lowest headline inflation seen in five years, according to data released by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS).With headline inflation reaching near zero levels, Sri Lanka may now have to worry about a looming deflationary economy, similar to now struggling Euro region and Japan
The net profit of Japan’s Onomichi Dockyard owned Colombo Dockyard PLC saw its September quarter net profit (3Q14) dwindling over 80 percent yearon-year (yoy) to Rs.36.3 million, amid its main shipbuilding segment under performing.As a result, the quarterly earnings per share deteriorated t o 51 cents from Rs.2.68.
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