By Paneetha Ameresekere The exchange rate (ER) marginally strengthened to the Rs. 131.20/131.60 levels to the US dollar ($) in two way quotes on thin volumes in spot, interbank trading on Friday (June 15), compared to the previous day’s close at the Rs. 132.00/132.30 levels, which a market source told this reporter was no cause [...]
With attention by policymakers these days focused on the exchange rate (ER) due to its volatility, some of the dailies on Monday (June 11) reported that President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother-in-law (BIL) and SriLankan Airlines’ Chairman Nishantha Wickramasinghe’s Mt. Lavinia house was burgled recently, with one daily alleging that foreign currency to the value of Rs. [...]
2.5 Million Target Pipe Dream Tourist arrival figure is reaching its peak, an official said, implying that President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s target of achieving a 2.5 million tourist arrival figure by 2016 may be a pipe dream. Earlier, Tourism Development Authority Director General Vipula Wanigasekara, speaking at a tourism seminar in Colombo on Tuesday (June 12) [...]
By Chrishanthi Christopher The car importing industry is being subject to repeated blows by a cash strapped government which is trying hurriedly to bridge its balance of payment deficit. In a new move the government has decided to charge a licensee fee on all franchise holders in the car importing industry. According to Ceylon Motor [...]
By Chrishanthi Christopher The weakening of the rupee is now taking its toll literally on the suffering masses especially on patients who depend on prescription drugs. It is learnt that recently all pharmaceutical drugs have increased in price by around 15 per cent. Pharmaceutical sources attribute this price increase to the fluctuating dollar which rallied [...]
By Ashwin Hemmathagama Pressured by the growing import bill and the widening trade deficit, Sri Lankan Rupee continued its depreciation to a record level of Rs. 134 recently. In the absence of prudent and long- term FOREX plans, most economists expect the current depreciation to stabilise between Rs.140 – Rs.145 level against the US dollar [...]
By Ravi Perera One of the hallmarks of our country, referred to in some circles as the Miracle of Asia, is the ease with which it carries extreme and contradictory situations within its fold. One day the sun is shining and the lucky souls living inside the miracle are heady with optimism. Crackers are lit, [...]
By Chrishanthi Christopher While the European Union and the United states are experiencing a recession in their regions Asia is enjoying an economic boom. But a World financial Institution says that Asia’s rapid growth is being undermined by the widening gap between the rich and the poor in the region. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) [...]
Pathfinder Economic Flash The government of Sri Lanka introduced a number of bold macroeconomic stabilisation measures in February/March 2012. These were necessary as the country was on a trajectory to a very destructive balance of payments crisis. It is still too early to determine whether enough has been done to stabilise the balance of payments, [...]
By Maryam Azwer Sri Lanka Tourist Development Authority (SLTDA) statistics show an increase in tourist arrivals to the country up to April this year – but has this increase also been reflected in the occupancy of hotels? According to the SLTDA, there has been an 18% growth in tourist arrivals to the country up until [...]
