Courtesy The Daily Mirror The proposed US $ 1 billion loan to be obtained from China will be utilised to settle the previous loans from the Chinese banks, Daily Mirror learns. Sri Lanka’s current loans from China also amount to nearly US $ 1 billion, a top source said. The latest method will be adopted […]

Courtesy Adaderana The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says Sri Lanka needs to implement a credible and coherent strategy covering both the near- and medium-term to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability. In its Staff Report for the 2021 Article IV Consultation with Sri Lanka, the IMF recommended a comprehensive set of policies with specific measures. […]

By WILL KENTON Courtesy Invetopedia.com What Is a Currency Board? A currency board is an extreme form of a pegged exchange rate. Management of the exchange rate and the money supply are taken away from the nation’s central bank, if it has one. In addition to a fixed exchange rate, a currency board is also generally required to maintain […]

Courtesy Ceylon Today A top US economist has recommended the dumping of the rupee and installing a currency board as the only way to save Sri Lanka’s economy. Steve H. Hanke of the John Hopkins University notes the country had such an entity from 1884 to 1950. He tweeted, Today, I measure inflation in Sri […]

Harvey Perera  Currently, we are using hydrocarbons for all our energy needs. We use it for our transportation, for cooking, and production of some of the electricity. Due to global warming, it has become imperative that we start using renewable energy instead of hydrocarbons for our energy consumption. If we switch to electricity we can […]

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia Colombo, March 22 (newsin.asia) – The Sri Lanka Rupee has further depreciated against the US Dollar as per the official exchange rates for foreign currency issued by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) today.  For similar articles, join our Whatsapp group for the latest updates. – click here The exchange rates are as follows: READ: 4 things […]

Courtesy Outlook Sri Lanka is facing an acute economic and energy crisis triggered due to a shortage of foreign exchange. A sudden rise in prices of key commodities and fuel shortage forced tens of thousands of people to queue for hours outside petrol pumps. Two elderly men reportedly fainted on Sunday in Sri Lanka while […]

Courtesy Adaderana The Advisory Committee appointed to assist the National Economic Council has presented five proposals that need to be implemented expeditiously, the President’s Media Division said. The members of the Advisory Committee met President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and members of the National Economic Council for the first time this morning (21) and presented the set of […]

Courtesy The Bangkok Post Country seeks IMF bailout to deal with worst debt crisis in decades. COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has cancelled exams for millions of students as the country has run out of printing paper and is short on dollars to finance imports, officials said on Saturday. Education authorities said the tests, scheduled for March […]

By Lakshmi Subramanian  Courtesy The Week There is palpable anger in island nation against govt On Friday, a day after India extended one billion dollar line of credit to Sri Lanka, the official Twitter handle of Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka noted, A friend holds out a helping hand again!!!Energizing bilateral economic partnership, India […]

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 […]