Anusha Ondaatjie, Courtesy  Bloomberg News (Bloomberg) — Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange reserves grew in March to the highest in over a year after the South Asian nation clinched a $3 billion International Monetary Fund bailout. The stockpile increased to $2.69 billion from $2.22 billion in February, according to data released by the central bank on […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lankan migrant workers’ foreign remittances have seen a sharp increase in March 2023, according to the figures published by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL). Thereby, workers’ remittances amounted to USD 568.3 million last month, recording an increase of more than USD 161 million from February 2023. Sri Lanka consecutively registered […]

Courtesy Adaderana The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has issued a statement, clarifying a misreporting of the views recently expressed by the CBSL Governor, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe during a recent media engagement. The media reports in question, which claim that the Governor anticipates a difficult period ahead in the economy, were deemed a ‘gross […]

Courtesy Peoples Gazette According to the World Bank, the economy will continue to face significant challenges in 2023 and beyond. The World Bank on Tuesday announced that Sri Lankan economy is projected to contract by 4.3 per cent in 2023 as demand continues to be subdued, job and income losses intensify. The World Bank in its twice-a-year […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka’s economy is projected to contract further in 2023 before it begins a gradual recovery in 2024, as the country navigates an unprecedented economic crisis, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in its annual flagship economic publication, the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) April 2023. The economy contracted by 7.8% in 2022 and is […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka’s heightened fiscal, external, and financial sector imbalances and its fluid political situation pose significant uncertainty for the country’s economic outlook, says the World Bank in its twice-a-year update, underscoring the need to address the root causes of the country’s economic crisis and build a strong and resilient economy to prevent future […]

By P. K. Balachandran courtesy Eurasia Review In 1966, the Indian economist Dr. B.R. Shenoy suggested measures that would have prevented Sri Lanka’s precipitous economic slide in succeeding years.     Giving the keynote address at a symposium on Economic Dialogue – IMF and Beyond” here on March 30, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that Sri […]

Courtesy Hiru News Sri Lanka yesterday held an investor presentation in order to explain the current macroeconomic situation and outlined the key pillars and objectives of the IMF program as well as the next steps with regard to the engagement with creditors. Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardena and Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe told the […]

Courtesy Bloomberg News (Bloomberg) — A battle is shaping up between global bondholders and Sri Lankan authorities as the nation seeks to restructure its debt to gain access to more aid from the International Monetary Fund. Overseas investors such as BlackRock Inc. and Pacific Investment Management Co. are demanding that domestic debt holders share billions […]

Courtesy The Hindustan Times Sri Lanka crisis: The Sri Lankan finance ministry officials held talks with its Indian counterparts to obtain the new temporary USD 1 billion facility for the purchase of essential items. Sri Lanka would seek a new temporary credit facility of USD 1 billion from India to purchase essential items including food […]

BasicEconomics

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 […]