By Anusha Ondaatjie and Lilian Karunungan Courtesy bloomberg.com Nation has to service $1 billion of debt maturing in July  Sri Lanka says arrangements made to settle July bond Sri Lanka’s risk premium for a default jumped, reflecting concern that the pandemic is damaging the nation’s ability to fill its foreign-exchange coffers ahead of at least $2.5 billion in […]

Department of Government Information

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Statement from Central Bank of Sri Lanka With a view to assist and maintain the financial system stability by minimizing the pressure on the exchange rate and preserving the foreign currency reserve position of the country, the Hon. Minister of Finance with the recommendation of the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror The government today ruled out any arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for restructuring its debt servicing criterion, but asserted that there were alternatives for it. Addressing a press conference at the Government Information Department, Money, Capital Markets and Public Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal said the economy was not […]

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස් ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාව ලබාගෙන ඇති ණය වෙනුවෙන් මෙම සතිය තුල ඩොලර් බිලියනයක ණය මුදලක් ගෙවිය යුතුව ඇති බව වෙලද ඇමති බන්දුල ගුණවර්ධන මහතා පවසයි. එම ණය මුදල මෙම සතියේදී නොගෙවුවහොත් ශ‍්‍රි ලංකාව බංකොලොත් වන බවත් ඔහු පැවසීය. කෙසේ වෙතත් ආණ්ඩුව එසේ වීමට ඉඩක් නොතබන බවත් ඒ මහතා සදහන් කරයි. ඔහු මෙම […]

Courtesy Adaderana The Cabinet of Ministers approved the further extension of orders issued under the Foreign Exchange Act to control foreign exchange remittances outside the country. Previously, orders were issued under Section 22 of the Foreign Exchange Act No. 12 of 2017 to suspend external remittances related to certain transactions, taking into account the possible […]

 Pathfinder The Pathfinder Foundation produced a Report Pathfinder Beyond the Box; a New Economic Vision for post-Covid Sri Lanka,” can read full text on https://bit.ly/3iSRx1L which was presented to senior policy makers and made available to the public in May 2020. 14 months on, it is time to take stock. The Report presented a policy […]

හිටපු ආණ්ඩුකාර රජිත් කීර්ති තෙන්නකෝන් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ලබා දෙන ජී.එස්.පී. පලස් සහනය ඉවත් කළ යුතු දැයි සළකා බැලීමට යුරෝපා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ඊයේ යෝජනාවක් සම්මත කොට ගෙන ඇත.  ඒ අනුව, ජීඑස්පී සහනය තවදුරටත් ශ්‍රී ලංකාව වෙත ලබා දෙන්නේ දැයි සලකා බැලීමට යුරෝපා කොමිසම ඉදිරියේ දී කටයුතු කරනු ඇත. මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් 705 ක් සිටින යුරෝපා පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ වැඩිම පිරිසක් ලංකාවට […]

Courtesy The Wire The currency swap arrangement between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh seems to be the first time that any country other than India has provided macroeconomic support to another South Asian country. About two weeks ago, Bangladesh’s central bank approved, in principle, a $200 million currency swap deal for Sri Lanka, intended to bolster […]

by Sanath Nanayakkare Courtesy The Island The government has succeeded in its public debt management programme with several initiatives and it would meet its foreign debt repayment obligations in the future too, S. Renganathan, MD/ CEO, Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC said on Wednesday at a virtual forum hosted by CT CLSA on the banking […]

Courtesy Hiru News Ajith Nivard Cabraal, State Minister of Finance and Capital Markets and Public Enterprise Reforms stated that the Colombo Port City will contribute US $ 4.5 billion to the country’s GDP in the first few years. He was speaking at a media briefing held in Colombo yesterday to raise awareness about the port […]

By Sugeeswara Senadhira Courtesy Ceylon Today The Colombo Port City Commission (CPCC) bill passed with several amendments proposed by the Government and opposition MPs and in accordance with the Sri Lankan Supreme Court (SC) determinations received by the Speaker of Parliament. After placing the SC determinations before Parliament on 18 May, a two-day lively debate […]

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, April 23 (www.counterpoint.lk): The miracle of Shenzen” inspired governments globally to find ways and means out of adverse situations that plague countries in terms of their economic performance, especially in the post-second world war era. Shenzen was well-regarded the world over as the most judicious and prudent way of experimenting with fundamental […]

Courtesy Nikkei Asia Yearlong talks yield $500m loan thought to carry ‘geopolitical conditions’ Signs advertise Colombo Port City: The development is said to give Beijing sweeping powers to oversee projects for the financial hub worth $1.4 billion. (Photo by Yuji Kuronuma)MUNZA MUSHTAQ, Contributing WriterApril 20, 2021 16:42 JST COLOMBO — China appears to be tightening its strategic grip […]

Courtesy The Daily News Sri Lankan rupee has further appreciated to Rs.191.97 against the US Dollar when compared with the previous selling rate of Rs 201.28. The buying rate of a rupee stood at Rs. 187.93 against the US Dollar

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, April 12 (newsin.asia): In his Sinhala-Tamil New Year message the Chinese Ambassador in Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong has said that tangible outcomes have been constantly achieved in the development of the China-funded Colombo Port City and Hambantota International Port prjects. Qi described these two projects as the new duo engines of Sri […]

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, April 12 (newsin.asia): On Monday a USD 500 Million Foreign Currency Term Financing Facility (FTFF) was signed in Beijing between the China Development Bank (CDB) and Sri Lankan Finance Ministry. This is the second tranche of the total RMB 2 billion plus (USD 1 billion) FTFF pledged by the Chinese side to […]

Courtesy Adaderana The Government of Sri Lanka has signed a loan agreement of USD 500 million with the China Development Bank (CDB). The Ministry of Finance stated that the relevant funds will be disbursed within this week. Ambassador Dr. Palitha Kohona, on behalf of the government of Sri Lanka, signed the loan agreement with the […]

Bloomberg (Bloomberg) — China signed a currency swap agreement with Sri Lanka as the South Asian nation looks to reduce reliance on the International Monetary Fund before $3.7 billion of foreign debt matures this year. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka is entitled to a 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) swap facility from the People’s […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) and the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) have entered into a bilateral currency swap agreement with a view to promoting bilateral trade and direct investment for economic development of the two countries, and to be used for other purposes agreed upon by both parties, […]

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, March 11 (Economy Next): The People’s Bank of China has confirmed that a 1.5 billion dollar equivalent swap arrangement had been approved, State Minister for Capital Markets and Money, Nivard Cabraal said. He said Sri Lanka could draw down the swap at any time but it will be kept as a buffer.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror China will endorse a US $ 500 million loan and a currency swap arrangement of two billion Yuan (around US $ 600 million) within the next couple of weeks, informed sources said. Sri Lankan ambassador to China Dr. Palitha Kohona held talks with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui on Wednesday […]

Veemansa Initiative, Veemansa Initiatives’ discussion on ‘external debt situation in Sri Lanka; Are we heading for a resolution or crisis?’.  The Governor Central Bank is confident all debt obligations will be met.   –         The Central Bank Governor affirms the government’s commitment and ability to honor all debt obligations. –         Sri Lanka to mobilize domestic […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved Sri Lanka’s request for USD 180 million loan for the Covid-19 emergency and crisis response facility to be disbursed through the Bank of Ceylon (USD 90 million) and People’s Bank (USD 90 million), Sri Lankan Embassy in Beijing said. The loan application was […]

Courtesy Adaderana

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, February 12 (newsin.asia): India’s Deputy High Commissioner, Vinod K.Jacob, has said that India-Sri Lanka bilateral trade gap has narrowed since 2018. We have been able to reduce the trade gap in 2018 and 2019 and made our trade more balanced. According to the latest data from the Sri Lankan side, in 2020, […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror In response to internet media reports about India asking for the settlement of US $ 400 million currency swap as an act of retaliation for the cancellation of the port project, the Indian High Commission said a rollover facility for the settlement of had been granted for the Central Bank of […]

MICHAEL HUDSON AND PEPE ESCOBAR Courtesy UNZ Review High-ended retailer Saks Fifth Avenue added private security, fencing and barbed wire ahead of a Black Lives Matter protest in New York, June 7. 2020. (Anthony Quintano, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons) Michael Hudson and Pepe Escobar last month took a hard look at rent and rent-seeking at the […]

By Sugeeswara Senadhira/Ceylon Today Colombo, December 21: In the final phase of the separatist war when the European Union threatened Sri Lanka with withdrawal of the GSP plus duty concessions, President Mahinda Rajapaksa called a meeting. Rajapaksa asked Minister G L Peiris how much the country would lose due to the withdrawal of GSP plus. […]

Courtesy Adaderana State Minister for Money, Capital Market & State Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal stated that the Government intends to follow a fair and a consistent tax policy without killing the proverbial ‘golden goose.’ Speaking exclusively to Indeewari Amuwatte at the ‘@HydePark’ program on Ada Derana 24, the State Minister expressed the following: The most important thing […]