By John Cavanagh and Jerry Mander Courtesy tru.ca A CRITIQUE OF CORPORATE GLOBALIZATION (PART III): Creating a world that works for all must begin with an effort to undo the enormous damage inflicted by the free trade economic policies that so badly distort economic relationships among people and countries. The thrust of those policies is […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka is unlikely to seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with the Cabinet failing to reach a consensus last evening. Government sources told Daily Mirror last night that most members of the Cabinet did not support seeking financial support from the IMF. Sources said that a majority […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Highest since January 2009; breaks country’s 12-year record of maintaining single-digit inflation Food inflation tops 20%; monthly increase exceeds 5% CB says a large component of inflation driven by supply side factors” A gentle Christmas rally normally seen in prices every December turned into a blowout in December 2021, as inflation […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Among the records made last year—most of which didn’t necessarily bring in a sense of achievement—was the record phase at which money was printed, as the Central Bank, influenced by the Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), flooded the markets with liquidity to support the government bloat its fiscal deficit.  As at the […]

Courtesy Hiru News It is reported that Sri Lanka receives USD 1.5 billion in currency exchange facility from China in Chinese Yuan. Accordingly, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka will receive nearly 10 billion Chinese Yuan, equivalent to USD 1.5 billion. Sources at the Central Bank stated to Hiru News that the money would be […]

Courtesy Hiru News The Asian Development Bank has agreed to reimburse USD 85 million spent for Sinopharm vaccines, stated State Minister Prof Channa Jayasumana

Pathfinder Perspective Has the time come to consider seriously the merits of restructuring the government’s external debt obligations?  The Sri Lankan authorities have indicated that they are in the process of negotiating inflows to meet the country’s immediate foreign exchange requirements.  However, there is considerable uncertainty as to whether there would be sufficient inflows to meet […]

Courtesy Ceylon Today Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is due to visit Sri Lanka around 08 and 09 January 2022, reports newsin.asia. It will be happening when the island nation’s economy is in dire straits, facing a severe dollar shortage, absence of foreign investment and a fall in international financial ratings. Colombo will expect Beijing […]

Courtesy Ceylon Today The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has ordered all licensed commercial banks to sell 25 per cent of their foreign exchange transactions to the CBSL on a weekly basis. Meanwhile, the CBSL has raised the annual license fees of licensed commercial banks and licensed specialised banks. Its Monetary Board requests these banks […]

Courtesy Hiru News The prices of white jackfruit (Kos), green jackfruit (Polos), banana flower (Kesel Muwa) and sweet potato, which were cheaper than the vegetables that have gone up in the market, have also risen sharply. It is reported that the wholesale price of a kilo of green jackfruit, which was previously between 20 and […]

Courtesy The Island The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) said on Wednesday that measures being taken at present would ensure that by end of 2021, official reserves would remain above US dollars 3 billion. Thus the government and the Central Bank remain confident that expected inflows will materialise and the reserve position will remain […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka had not sought financial support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during a just concluded staff team visit to Colombo.  IMF’s mission chief for Sri Lanka, Masahiro Nozaki told Daily Mirror via email that the staff is still ready to discuss the option if requested.  Nozaki said a staff […]

Central Bank Sri Lanka The Central Bank of Sri Lanka wishes to inform the general public that the measures being taken at present will ensure that by end of 2021 official reserves will remain above US dollars 3 billion. Despite the headwinds of the economic impact of COVID-19 and challenges posed by adverse developments in […]

Courtesy Business Recorder COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s inflation hit a record 11.1 percent in November, official figures showed Wednesday, and authorities warned a worsening economic crisis could prompt further food rationing. The island’s tourism-dependent economy was hammered by the pandemic and the government imposed a broad import ban to shore up foreign exchange reserves, triggering shortages […]

Carla Mozée Courtesy Business Insider Sri Lanka reached an agreement to send tea to Iran to settle a $251 million oil debt, according to reports.  Sri Lanka wasn’t able to pay the debt via other means as US sanctions prohibit dealings with Iranian banks.  But Sri Lanka said its tea-barter plan does not violate UN […]

Courtesy Hiru News The Central Bank of Sri Lanka wishes to inform the general public that the measures being taken at present will ensure that by end of 2021 official reserves will remain above US dollars 3 billion. <br /><br />Despite the headwinds of the economic impact of COVID-19 and challenges posed by adverse developments […]

උපුටාගැණීම අද දෙරණ ආර්ථිකය සම්බන්ධයෙන් අසත්‍ය ප්‍රචාර සිදුකරමින් සිටින විවිධ පාර්ශවයන් රටට විශාල හානියක් සිදුකරමින් සිටින බව මහ බැංකු අධිපති අජිත් නිවාඩ් කබ්රාල් මහතා පැවසීය. එසේම ණය වාරික ගෙවීමට සහ අනෙකුත් කටයුතු සදහා මෙරට සතුව මුදල් සංචිත පවතින බවයි මහ බැංකු අධිපතිවරයා සදහන් කර ඇත. මේ අතර ශ්‍රී ලංකාව මුහුණ දී සිටින විදේශ විනිමය අර්බුදයෙන් […]

Courtesy Adaderana Headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) change in the National Consumer Price Index, increased to 11.1 per cent in November 2021 from 8.3 per cent in October 2021, according to the Statistics Department of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.  Meanwhile, on an annual average basis, the NCPI increased to 6.2 […]

Courtesy Adaderana (AFP) International ratings agency Fitch downgraded Sri Lanka Saturday by one notch to CC” due to mounting fears of a sovereign default on its $26 billion foreign debt. The downgrade came a day after Sri Lanka reported a 1.5 percent contraction in the third quarter of this year as a foreign exchange crisis wrecked its recovery from […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Supporters of Sri Lanka’s President-elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa cheer near the Election Commission office in Colombo [S Kodikara/AFP] Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Sri Lanka was infested by a pandemic of a different kind: An outbreak of borderline racism and boundless populist irrationality. The carriers and incubators of that pathogen are now the stakeholders […]

Courtesy Adaderana The Governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Ajith Nivard Cabraal today (December 16) cleared the air about the rumours that claimed there has been a change in exchange rate policy. In a tweet, the CBSL chief dismissed the rumours as ‘fake’.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Central Bank ruled out the need to strike any arrangement with the International Monetary FUND(IMF) to tide over the current foreign exchange crisis. Its Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal told Daily Mirror that certain measures had been taken to ensure non-debt inflows, repatriation of export proceeds and remittances, and those would be […]

Courtesy Adaderana The Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Ajith Nivard Cabraal has denied reports that he has been summoned by the Cabinet of Ministers for its meeting today. In a twitter message, the governor said the news reports claiming that he has been summoned by the Cabinet to discuss matters related […]

Courtesy Adaderana The meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers scheduled to be held tomorrow (13) will reportedly focus more attention on the foreign exchange reserves crisis the country is currently facing. Secretary to the Finance Ministry Mr. S.R. Attygalle and the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Mr Ajith Nivard Cabraal will also […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka will stabilize its foreign reserves on its own and will not seek any assistance from anyone, Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa  told Parliament today. Winding up the committee stage debate of the budget in the House, Minister Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka will not seek IMF assistance if its conditions […]

Courtesy Adaderana Several prominent members of the board of directors of the Board of Investment (BOI) have stepped down from their positions. According to a statement issued by the BOI, the Chairman, members of the Board of Directors and the Director-General are among the top officials who resigned.  The full statement of the Board of […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka is confident of being able to “seamlessly” repay all of its sovereign debt that comes due in 2022, Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said on Wednesday, while exploring new instruments to make its debt profile more sustainable. “The repayments (for 2022) will go through seamlessly, we are confident […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says Sri Lanka has not made any request for financial support. IMF’S Mission Chief for Sri Lanka Masahiro Nozaki told Daily Mirror in an email that a staff team from the IMF is scheduled to visit Colombo from December 7–20. Responding to a question posed on […]

By Hussain Shazzad* Courtesy Eurasia Review Bangladesh, the second highest recipient of China’s investment in South Asia after Pakistan, imports the highest volume of goods from China making it Bangladesh’s largest trading partner. This is the beginning of the story where China offers Bangladesh financial assistance and development experience for its ‘big-ticket megaprojects’ to fulfill its vision-2041, […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Following the success of last year’s #BudgetCheck, FactCheck.lk by Verité Research carried out live fact checking on claims made by Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa in his 2022 Budget Speech on November 12, 2021.  The team fact checked a total of nine statements from the Budget Speech. Of these, four statements were […]