Sri Lanka foreign reserves rise to USD7.3 bln in Nov

Dec 29, 2015 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's official foreign reserves increased to 7,295 million dollars at the end of November this year, up from 6,480 million dollars at the end of October after a sovereign bond issue, according to figures released by the Central Bank. This included 6,463 million dollars in foreign reserves and 756 million dollars in gold. Sri Lanka raised 1.5 billion dollars in a 10-year sovereign bond issue in late October and may go to international markets to raise up to 1.5 billion dollars next year for budgetary financing, a central bank official told Lanka Business Online. Finance Minister told Parliament earlier this month that the country has a strong balance of payments environment and rejected reports of a gloomy outlook for 2016. “There is no issue with the balance of payments. Our problem is with the trade balance. Our exports have decreased and imports increased,” Karunanayake said.