The Central Bank of Sri Lanka wishes to make the following clarification on the process it has followed in relation to Section 4 of the Registered Stock and Securities Ordinance, No 07 of 1937 (RSSO) as amended with regard to the issuance of government securities.
1. The RSSO was enacted for the purpose of issuing registered stocks, Government promissory notes, Bearer bonds and Treasury bonds.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka, jointly with the Sustainable Banking Network (SBN) managed by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has made arrangements to conduct a Workshop on “Sustainable Finance” on 28 February 2017 at the John Exter International Conference Hall of the Central Bank, Colombo with the patronage of His Excellency the President Maithripala Sirisena as the Chief Guest and the Keynote Speaker.
The attention of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has been drawn to misinterpretation of the facts contained in the newspaper advertisements published by the CBSL in implementation of its Clean Note Policy. The Clean Note Policy has been introduced by the CBSL aiming at maintaining the quality standards of the currency notes and thereby helping to distinguish between genuine notes and counterfeits. It is also expected through this policy to enhance image of the country and promote efficient and cost effective currency notes processing activities.
Inflation, as measured by the change in the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) (2013=100), which is compiled by the Department of Census and Statistics, increased to 6.5 per cent in January 2017 from 4.2 per cent in December 2016, on year-on-year basis. Both Food and Non-food categories contributed towards the year-on-year inflation in January 2017.
The change in the NCPI measured on an annual average basis increased to 4.6 per cent in January 2017 from 4.0 per cent in December 2016.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) today launched a Data Library to the general public via the CBSL external website.
Data Library of CBSL is a comprehensive database consisting of time series data on a variety of topics spanning across Real, Monetary, Fiscal, External and Financial sectors. It facilitates numerous data requirements by enabling the creation of own queries, generating tables, downloading and saving them for further reference.
The data users can access the Data Library via the CBSL website (www.cbsl.gov.lk) or specifically via the URL (https://www.cbsl.lk/eresearch).
The Manufacturing Sector PMI recorded 57.9 in May which is an increase of 16.1 index points compared to April 2017. This indicates that the manufacturing activities recovered in May 2017, largely attributable to the expansion in Production and New Orders subindices, following the seasonal contraction observed for the month of April 2017. Further, all the sub-indices of PMI apart from Employment sub-index recorded values above neutral 50.0 threshold. However, adverse weather conditions experienced from 25th day of the month slowed down the expected recovery of the operations due to employee absenteeism and lengthening of the suppliers’ delivery time.
The Manufacturing Sector PMI recorded an index value of 56.2 in January which is a decrease of 2.1 index points compared to December 2016. The deceleration in PMI indicate that the manufacturing activities expanded at a moderate pace in January 2017 largely attributable to post seasonal realignment of business plans ahead as reflected in Production and New Orders sub-indices. The Stock of Purchases sub-index increased in January indicating an accumulation of stocks mainly as a precaution to face possible delays of supply of materials which is also associated with the lengthening of Suppliers’ Delivery Time. The Employment sub-index also increased compared to the previous month. Overall data points to an expansion where all the sub-indices are above the neutral 50.0 threshold. The expectations for activities indicated an improvement for the next three months.
Contributed by both food and non-food inflation, headline inflation, as measured by the year-on-year change in the Colombo Consumers’ Price Index (CCPI, 2013=100), increased to 5.5 per cent in January 2017 from 4.5 per cent in December 2016. Core inflation, based on CCPI, also accelerated to 7.0 per cent in January 2017 from 5.8 per cent in December 2016. Headline inflation and core inflation, based on the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI, 2013=100), which is available with a time lag, also reflected an upward trend in December 2016, recording 4.2 per cent and 6.7 per cent, respectively, on a year-on-year basis.
Sri Lanka’s external sector recorded a modest performance in October 2016 with a deterioration in the trade deficit amidst continued growth in tourist earnings. The trade deficit widened in October as a result of higher import expenditure despite a marginal growth in export earnings. The significant increase in import expenditure in October 2016 was primarily due to the import of a dredger vessel for the Port City construction project. Meanwhile, workers’ remittances were marginally higher while a healthy growth was observed in earnings from tourism during October 2016. Although inflows to the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and long term loan proceeds to the government supported the financial account of the Balance of Payments (BOP), the government securities market witnessed a net outflow during October 2016.
Inflation, as measured by the change in the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) (2013=100), which is compiled by the Department of Census and Statistics, increased marginally to 4.2 per cent in December 2016 from 4.1 per cent in November 2016, on year-on-year basis. Both Food and Non-food categories contributed towards the year-on-year inflation in December 2016.
The change in the NCPI measured on an annual average basis remained unchanged from last month at 4.0 per cent in December 2016.
