Courtesy The Daily Mirror State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya says that 121 million US dollars out of 333 million US dollars, the first tranche that was extended to Sri Lanka by the IMF, was used to pay the installment of the Indian credit line. He said the relevant installment of 121 million US dollars […]

Courtesy Hiru News President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that due to the public sector engaging in business activities, the money that was available for the construction of 100 projects similar to the Mahaweli during the past decades, has been destroyed. He noted that in the future, the public sector will stop engaging in business and open […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka Rupee (LKR) has appreciated further against the US Dollar (USD) today, according to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Accordingly, today’s buying rate of USD is Rs. 312.61 while the selling rate of USD is Rs. 330.16

Courtesy Adaderana China’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday called on all related parties, in particular Western commercial creditors and multilateral financial institutions, to make contributions to alleviating the debt pressure of developing countries amid the tightening international financial environment. The remarks were made by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin, after outgoing World Bank chief David Malpass […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka Rupee (LKR) has appreciated further against the US Dollar (USD) today, according to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Accordingly, today’s buying rate of USD is Rs. 312.61 while the selling rate of USD is Rs. 330.16.

Courtesy Adaderana The Cabinet of Ministers has authorized the Finance Ministry Secretary or the Treasury’s Deputy Secretary to sign the Promissory Notes and other required documents as soon as Sri Lanka receives the IMF-supported Extended Fund Facility (EFF) approval from the IMF Executive Board. The decision was taken during the Cabinet meeting held this evening […]

Courtesy Daily Mirror Disputing the grim forecast of Sri Lanka’s exchange rate by Fitch Solutions by the year-end, Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe raised concerns on the basis of the forecast while stressing that such long-term predictions on exchange rate are not prudent. Fitch Solution recently maintained its forecast for the rupee to weaken […]

Courtesy The Telegraph Online The governor made the statement while talking about a proposed bill aimed to provide autonomy to the Central Bank without any undue influence from the fiscal authorities or the government Nandalal Weerasinghe. Nandalal Weerasinghe has cited the lack of independence of the apex bank in determining the monetary policy as a […]

Courtesy CNA COLOMBO :Sri Lanka will introduce new central bank legislation aimed at bolstering the bank’s independence, accountability and also price stability in the country via a new inflation target, its governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said on Thursday. Sri Lanka is waiting for a $2.9 billion bailout programme from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to be […]

Courtesy The Daily News First Capital says that they believe that attaining the required financial assurances and entering into an IMF program is key for Sri Lanka’s revival while a well planned reform program will ensure acceleration in the recovery trajectory. At this juncture, Sri Lanka stands with a high level of hope with Sri […]

Courtesy Daily Mirror The Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR) has depreciated against the US Dollar (USD) today for the third consecutive day, according to the Central Bank. Accordingly, today’s buying rate of USD is Rs. 327.59 while the selling rate is Rs. 344.66. The Rupee has been appreciating against the USD and other major currencies since […]

Courtesy Nikkei Asia Island finds itself short of dollars as it awaits $2.9bn IMF rescue A demonstrator on March 8 shouts at a police officer during a Colombo protest organized by Women for Rights. Sri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis since it gained independence from the British in 1948.   © Reuters March 15, […]

Courtesy Argus Media Chinese state-owned Sinopec has proposed to fully finance the construction of a refinery in Hambantota district in Sri Lanka, the island nation said on 13 March. Representatives from Sinopec presented Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe with a proposal, and also confirmed their “readiness to invest in the import, storage, distribution, and marketing […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Several credit card issuers have lifted the limits that hitherto had on overseas use, as they saw their foreign currency conditions improving substantially in the recent times, providing them a lot more room to allow their cardholders with higher spending thresholds when they travel overseas. When the country’s foreign currency conditions […]

By T Lalithasiri Gunaruwan Professor in the Department of Economics University of Colombo The Government has Gazetted a Bill to repeal the existing Monetary Law Act, which is presently Governing the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), and to replace it with a new Central Bank of Sri Lanka Act. The purpose of this new […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka needs institutional reforms in order to achieve long-term debt sustainability, said Steve Hanke, who played a key role in establishing new currency regimes in emerging markets like Argentina and Montenegro. The South Asian country is grappling with its worst financial crisis in decades and needs to unlock a $2.9 billion IMF […]

රජිත් කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් ලංකාව මෙයට පෙර අවස්ථා 16 ක ජාත්‍යන්තර මුල්‍ය අරමුදල සමඟ ගිවිසුම්ගත වී ඇත.  නමුත්, එයින් අවස්ථා 10 ක දී සම්පූර්ණ ණය මුදල් ලැබුණු අතර, 6 ක දී මුළු ණය මුදල රටට ලැබුණේ නැත. කොන්දේස ඉටු නොකිරීම, දේශපාලන බලපෙරළි, රට තුල ඇතිවූ අස්ථාවරත්වය ණය ගිවිසුම අතරමඟ කඩාකප්පල් කළේය. උන්ඩියල් සහ මනී එක්ස්චෙන්ජ් මිල […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka’s rupee, which became the world’s best performing currency this year amid hopes of an International Monetary Fund bailout, may resume declines and lose a fifth of its value against the dollar by end-2023, according to Fitch Solutions. We are optimistic that Sri Lanka will be able to secure an IMF board […]

Courtesy Adaderana The All Share Price Index (ASPI) of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) has increased by nearly 200 points during today’s (07 March) trading.  Accordingly, the ASPI increased by 198.02 points (2.10%) to close at 9,642.94 after today’s trading.  This is also the highest close of the index for the year so far, after […]

Courtesy Adaderana The Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR) has appreciated further against the US dollar (USD) today (07 March) as the buying rate reached Rs. 318.30 and the selling rate recorded Rs. 335.75.  At the same time, the Middle Rate of the USD/ LKR SPOT Exchange Rate was recorded at Rs. 337.66. The Sri Lankan Rupee […]

උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත් ඉදිරි වසර දෙකක කාලය සඳහා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට මූල්‍යමය වශයෙන් සහාය දීමට ලෝක බැංකුව එකඟ වී තිබෙනවා. >ඒ අනුව ඊට අමෙරිකානු ඩොලර් බිලියන 1.5ක මුදලක් ලබාදීමට ලෝක බැංකුවේ කළමනාකාරීත්වය එකඟ වී ඇති බවයි වාර්තා වන්නේ. එම මුල්‍ය ප්‍රදානය ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදල සමග ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ඇති කරගෙන ඇති ගනුදෙනුව අවසන් වූ වහාම සිදු […]

Courtesy The National News IMF funding is often the sole financial lifeline available to countries in a debt crunch and key to unlocking other financing sources Countries in debt distress such as Zambia and Sri Lanka turning to the International Monetary Fund for financial help are facing unprecedented delays to secure bailouts as China and Western […]

Courtesy The Daily Star Sri Lanka’s decision to raise interest rates shows the crisis-hit country’s commitment to reducing inflation quickly towards single-digit levels, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Saturday. In a surprise move, the South Asia nation’s central bank raised rates by 100 basis points on Friday to battle inflation, which is at […]

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Share on WhatsApp Presentation from Central Bank of Sri Lanka on recent economic developments. ADVERTISEMENT

By Bram Nicholas and Shiran Illanperuma/The Diplomat March 02, 2023: Sri Lanka’s debt default – announced in April of last year amid foreign currency shortages that had triggered rolling blackouts, fuel queues, and street protests – has been subject to endless debate by local and international observers. The root causes of the country’s debt problem […]

Courtesy Reuters.com COLOMBO, March 3 (Reuters) – Sri Lanka will relax its currency band from next week, its central bank said on Friday, as part of efforts to move towards a market-determined exchange rate as it seeks to secure a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund. The central bank also raised interest rates […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Taking everyone by surprise, the Monetary Board of the Central Bank today raised policy interest rates by 100 basis points, though many predicted the monetary authority to either maintain the status quo or signal a dovish tilt by cutting rates. Inflation, which peaked almost at 70 percent, has been steadily coming […]

Courtesy Adaderana President Ranil Wickremesinghe has announced that a foundation is presently being established to advance Sri Lanka’s economy to a global level over the next five years by implementing green economic policies. The President made this statement while attending the ceremony held today (02 March) for the opening of Volta Auto Tec Engineering Private […]

Courtesy Adaderana World Bank Vice President for South Asia, Martin Raiser has reaffirmed the World Bank’s continued support to help navigate Sri Lanka’s navigate economic challenges, implement critical reforms, and chart a path towards a resilient and inclusive recovery. During his four-day visit to the island nation, which concluded on 28 February, Raiser met with […]

Courtesy Adaderana Borrowing costs hovering at two-decade highs to quell Asia’s fastest inflation rates will be in focus in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, as the crisis-gripped economies review monetary policy settings in decisions seen as key to winning multilateral bailout funds. The two monetary authorities are likely to take different tracks as price pressures have […]