Courtesy Adaderana The International Monetary Fund (IMF) intends to begin discussions with Sri Lanka on a programme to support the country, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice says. Speaking at a media briefing on Thursday (March 17), Mr. Rice said the IMF has highlighted the urgent need to implement a credible and coherent strategy to restore macro-economic […]

Sugath Kulatunga 15/3Down with the Rupee Double, double toil and trouble;Fire burn and cauldron bubble, Down with the rupee, make it tumble, Poor people let them crumble. (With apologies to Shakespeare) During the last few days there were many excellent presentations on the present economic crisis. There are several points I as a non-economist do […]

Courtesy The Straits Times COLOMBO (AFP) – An IMF delegation was in Sri Lanka on Monday (March 14) for talks on the island’s worsening economic crisis, with the public suffering through months of food, fuel and medicine shortages. A lack of foreign currency has left traders unable to pay for vital imports in what authorities concede is […]

Courtesy Adaderana The three Cabinet sub-committees, appointed by the President last month to negotiate with China, Japan and the Middle East Region on economic matters met for the first time on the 9th and 10th of March at the Parliament under the chairmanship of the Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris. Commencing its task, the Cabinet […]

MARWAAN MACAN-MARKAR, Asia regional correspondent Courtesy Nikkei Asia IMF warns of worse to come as South Asian nation fights shy of 17th bailout. COLOMBO — Random flashes of public anger have erupted all across Sri Lanka, the South Asian nation in a deepening economic crisis exacerbated by the policy flip-flops of its ultranationalist government. In […]

Courtesy Adaderana The move to devalue the Sri Lankan rupee was aimed at improving macroeconomic stability as the country struggles with its worst financial crisis in years, the country’s Central Bank governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said on Friday. The central bank earlier in the week introduced a flexible exchange rate framework, which saw the rupee […]

Courtesy Adaderana Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal has denied media reports which stated that the meetings between Sri Lankan authorities and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials over the next few weeks are for the purpose of debt restructuring. Taking to his official Twitter account, Cabraal said Meetings of Sri Lankan authorities with @IMFNews […]

Courtesy Hiru News Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal says that the economic plans of Sri Lanka had to be changed due to the Ukraine-Russia war crisis. He made this statement to the media regarding the current economic situation.<br /><br />The purchase price of one US dollar was 256.22 rupees today (11) and it is […]

Courtesy MailOnLine +1View gallery Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis since independence has led to fuel and electricity rationing across the South Asian nation of 22 million The Sri Lankan rupee fell sharply against the dollar Thursday, after the country’s central bank ordered a 15 percent depreciation in a bid to stave off a looming economic […]

Courtesy Bloomberg $1 billion debt payment looms in four months Colombo: Sri Lanka’s painful decision to effectively devalue its currency this week could pave the way for the island nation to get help from the International Monetary Fund as a $1 billion debt payment looms in four months. The country’s dollar bonds due July 2022 […]

Courtesy Reuters COLOMBO, March 7 (Reuters) – Nearly 1,000 bakeries have closed in Sri Lanka due to a severe shortage of cooking gas, an industry association said on Monday, as the impact of dwindling foreign exchange reserves ricochets through the country’s economy. The island nation is facing its worst financial crisis in a decade with […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror CB Governor says Road Map presented last Oct. has borne fruits and SL has no need of an IMF programme Says SL doesn’t have a problem in its foreign currency inflows, but a significant increase in outflows Says no request made to China to restructure Yuan denominated debt Believes current exchange […]

Courtesy Adaderana Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) says it is of the view that forex transactions would take place at levels that are not more than Rs. 230 per US dollar. In a statement, the Central Bank noted that it would continue to closely monitor the developments in the domestic foreign exchange market and […]

Courtesy The Daily Star Softlogic Holdings PLC is in talks with Agora to acquire the full operation of Bangladesh’s oldest supermarket chain, said the Sri Lankan conglomerate and people familiar with the matter. A subsidiary, Softlogic Retail Holdings (private), inked an agreement on Friday to acquire Agora, said the group in a disclosure at Colombo […]

By Uditha Jayasinghe and Devjyot Ghoshal Courtesyinvesting.com COLOMBO (Reuters) – In late November 2019, after winning Sri Lanka’s presidential election and months ahead of a parliamentary ballot that would again test his popularity, Gotabaya Rajapaksa gathered his cabinet and made good on a campaign promise to slash taxes.     The move, which included a near-halving […]

The Boston University Global Development Policy (GDP) Center In offering loans to developing countries in exchange for policy reforms, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) typically sets the fiscal parameters within which development occurs. Among the drivers of socio-economic development, a new working paper focuses on an important, yet insufficiently understood, international-level determinant: the spread of austerity […]

By Rebecca Ray Courtesy The Boston University Global Development Policy (GDP) For many years, researchers have debated the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) use of austerity, or required fiscal budget tightening: how common it is, which borrowers receive such requirements, whether IMF practice has changed after successive financial crises, and what impacts such austerity has had. Two new working papers from the Boston University Global Development Policy Center […]

Courtesy The Digital Journal Sri Lanka’s inflation hit a record high for the fourth consecutive month, official data showed Tuesday as an economic crisis driven by a crippling foreign exchange shortage worsens. The National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) rose 16.8 percent in January from a year earlier, the fourth consecutive record rise and more than […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka is open to having discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other multilateral lenders for assistance and advice, says Minister Ramesh Pathirana. He made this remark addressing the media briefing held earlier today to announce the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers. According to the co-Cabinet spokesman, Sri Lanka is […]

By Uditha Jayasinghe and Devjyot Ghoshal Courtesy Fxempire COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange reserves are plummeting, essential imports are stalling and opposition leaders and some experts warn that time is running out to avoid a sovereign default that would further upend the economy. 71% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs […]

By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera Courtesy The Daily Mirror Sajith Premadasa  The main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) together with its economic experts are currently in the process of formulating a solution to the present economic crisis and are discussing with local and international experts on restructuring Sri Lanka’s debt, the Leader of Opposition […]

Source: Hindustan Times Indian Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Sri Lankan high commissioner Milinda Moragoda on Friday discussed the finalisation of a USD 1 billion line of credit to be provided by India to the island nation to purchase essential items to tide over an economic crisis. Moragoda met Sitharaman and conveyed Sri Lanka’s appreciation […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka is committed to honour all forthcoming debt obligations and the country is not on the brink of a sovereign default, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka reiterated on Wednesday (February 09). In a statement, the Central Bank dismissed the recent media reports on an impending sovereign default as totally unsubstantiated”. The […]

Courtesy Hiru News Central Bank says with the realization of expected forex inflows and the build-up of international reserves, the need for initiating discussions with investors on debt restructuring as claimed by media reports does not arise. The Sri Lankan Government would be able to ensure settlement of its sovereign debt without default.

By P.K.Balachandran Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, February 4 (Counterpoint): It is widely acknowledged that Sri Lanka has not been in such dire straits economically as it is now in its 74 th. year as an independent nation. Seven decades of erratic economic policies adopted in the midst of a 30-year war, two insurgencies, self-defeating nationalism and […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal was quick to set the record straight with regard to Sri Lanka’s intention to reach out to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for assistance. Referring to the comments made by the Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa last evening where he shared that the government had sought […]

Courtesy Adaderana The International Monetary Fund is ready to discuss options” with Sri Lanka if the government asks for financial support, its mission chief for the island told AFP on Thursday. The Covid-19 pandemic has had a disastrous impact on Sri Lanka’s economy, which has been deprived of its tourism bonanza while workers’ remittances from […]

Anusha Ondaatjie, Courtesy Bloomberg News Pedestrians and shoppers at Pettah Market in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021. Sri Lanka’s gross domestic product unexpectedly contracted last quarter, adding a new layer of challenge to the economy facing default risks. , Bloomberg (Bloomberg) — Sri Lanka’s inflation rate surged past Pakistan to make it […]

Courtesy The Island Mr. Dhammika Perera, the controlling shareholder of the Hayleys group and a multitude of other listed companies who is widely speculated to be the country’s wealthiest individual, has proposed a seven-pronged strategy to overcome Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange crisis in a wide-ranging interview with the Irida Divayina Sangrahaya. In terms of market value […]

Courtesy Hiru News  පවතින ආර්ථික ගැටලුවලට විසඳුම් සෙවීම සඳහා ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදල සමග වැඩපිළිවෙලකට යාමට රජය සාකච්ඡා කරමින් සිටින බව මුදල් අමාත්‍ය බැසිල් රාජපක්ෂ පවසනවා. ඔහු මේ බව සඳහන් කර ඇත්තේ ලන්ඩන්හි ෆයිනෑන්ෂල් ටයිම්ස් සඟරාව සමග පැවති සම්මුඛ සාකච්ඡාවකදීයි. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ වත්මන් ආර්ථික තත්ත්වය සම්බන්ධයෙන් ෆයිනෑන්ෂල් ටයිම්ස් පුවත්පත මුදල් අමාත්‍ය බැසිල් රාපපක්ෂ සමග සම්මුඛ සාකච්ඡාවක් […]