Hiran H.Senewiratne (hsenewiratne@gmail.com)
Sri Lanka’s pension funds,the EPF and ETF, will be merged to provide more benefits to the people in the private sector, Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran said.
This was also in the last election manifesto, the Governor said.
“We are exploring the possibility to merge the pension funds which runs into more than rupees one trillion to simplify the fund.” Today the employee has to contribute to two funds,” the Central Bank Governor told the media yesterday.
Mahendran said this will benefit the small employees who run small business entities. This huge fund will help large amount of people to obtain benefits out of this huge fund.
The Governor said Sri Lanka’s economic growth is estimated at 6.7 percent in the second quarter and there was sufficient economic momentum due to prudential economic policies in the country, “he said.
“The rupee was now determined by market forces and the government is not involved in it. Therefore, the recent fall in the rupee will increase export competitiveness, Mahendran said.
Bank lenders were asked to finance only 70 percent of loans of cars, which were being imported in large numbers, taking away the competitive advantage from a reduction in oil prices, he said.
Uncertainty in global markets had made many currencies volatile and the situation may continue until the US hikes rates, he said.
An eventual hike in US interest rates need not necessarily signal a domestic hike he said, if credit, inflation and balance of payments are stable. He said core inflation has been rising, but headline inflation was low.
He also said that US Federal Reserve will likely increase interest rates before the end of this year. Due to that short term investors move away from emerging markets and invest different investment tools in US markets, Mahendran said.
Sri Lankan car prices which spiked with the sharp depreciation of the local currency has seen weak demand following the Central Bank’s move to curtail credit for vehicle purchases, dealers said.
www.dailynews.lk
Sri Lanka’s pension funds,the EPF and ETF, will be merged to provide more benefits to the people in the private sector, Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran said.
This was also in the last election manifesto, the Governor said.
“We are exploring the possibility to merge the pension funds which runs into more than rupees one trillion to simplify the fund.” Today the employee has to contribute to two funds,” the Central Bank Governor told the media yesterday.
Mahendran said this will benefit the small employees who run small business entities. This huge fund will help large amount of people to obtain benefits out of this huge fund.
The Governor said Sri Lanka’s economic growth is estimated at 6.7 percent in the second quarter and there was sufficient economic momentum due to prudential economic policies in the country, “he said.
“The rupee was now determined by market forces and the government is not involved in it. Therefore, the recent fall in the rupee will increase export competitiveness, Mahendran said.
Bank lenders were asked to finance only 70 percent of loans of cars, which were being imported in large numbers, taking away the competitive advantage from a reduction in oil prices, he said.
Uncertainty in global markets had made many currencies volatile and the situation may continue until the US hikes rates, he said.
An eventual hike in US interest rates need not necessarily signal a domestic hike he said, if credit, inflation and balance of payments are stable. He said core inflation has been rising, but headline inflation was low.
He also said that US Federal Reserve will likely increase interest rates before the end of this year. Due to that short term investors move away from emerging markets and invest different investment tools in US markets, Mahendran said.
Sri Lankan car prices which spiked with the sharp depreciation of the local currency has seen weak demand following the Central Bank’s move to curtail credit for vehicle purchases, dealers said.
www.dailynews.lk
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