- Bumrah takes four as India bowl out Bangladesh for 149
- Sri Lanka 134-1 to take upper hand in first New Zealand Test
- Bayern's Kompany calls for game cap for players amid strike talks
- Christie's expands Hong Kong footprint in hope of art market 'pickup'
- Sultry screen legend Sophia Loren turns 90
- Cambodian opposition figure in court on incitement charge
- Bumrah takes three wickets to have Bangladesh in trouble at 112-8
- Kimchi threat as heatwave drives up South Korea cabbage prices
- UK economic data delivers fresh blow to new govt
- China to 'gradually resume' seafood imports from Japan after Fukushima ban
- India minister blames dam release for flooding
- O'Rourke strikes early for Kiwis as Sri Lanka trail by three
- Deep takes two as Bangladesh totter in reply to India's 376
- Israel pounds Lebanon's Hezbollah after device blasts
- Revolution or mirage? Controversy surrounds new Alzheimer's drugs
- Ashwin's 113 powers India to 376 in Bangladesh Test
- Biden opens home to 'Quad' leaders for farewell summit
- Sally Rooney returns with 30-something questions
- Wallabies sense 'massive' chance to upset All Blacks
- Taiwan questions two in probe into Hezbollah pagers
- Viral Korean Olympic shooter scores first acting role as assassin
- Farrell set for 'challenge' of downing Bordeaux in Top 14
- Springbok Etzebeth diverts attention from looming caps record
- Inter on a high ahead of Milan derby as Napoli face Juve test
- Bank of Japan leaves key interest rate unchanged
- Arnold quits after six years in charge of Australia
- Asian markets track Wall Street record to extend global rally
- Guirassy and Anton to return to Stuttgart with new side Dortmund
- Marseille bidding to continue 'almost perfect' Ligue 1 start
- Arnold quits as coach of Australia men's football team
- Harris and Oprah hold star-studded US election rally
- Allies to remember failed WWII parachute operation
- Perez leading new-look Villarreal charge against leaders Barca
- Man City face Arsenal in Premier League title showdown, Postecoglou under pressure
- Fake celebrity endorsements, snubs plague US presidential race
- Documentary brings Argentine 'death flights' to the big screen
- Strike shows challenge to Boeing 'reset' of labor relations
- World leaders to gather at UN as crises grow and conflicts rage
- How plastic pollution poses challenge for Canada marine conservation
- Scientists track plastic waste in pristine Canada marine park
- South Africa's Buhai grabs LPGA Queen City lead
- Japan inflation firms to 2.8% ahead of BoJ rate decision
- Russia's Kadyrov accuses Musk of 'remotely disabling' his Cybertruck
- Titan sub had to abort a dive days before fatal implosion: testimony
- Ohtani makes MLB history with first 50-homer, 50-steal season
- Ohtani eyes MLB history after surpassing 50 stolen bases, 49 homers
- Ohtani eyes MLB history after surpassing 50 stolen bases
- Barca downed by Monaco as Arsenal held in Champions League stalemate
- Head's 'good night at office' after century seals win over England
- Dubois seeks legitimacy with Joshua scalp
Sri Lanka hikes rates as economy risks collapse
Sri Lanka's central bank hiked interest rates by one percentage point on Friday and urged the government to increase taxes as the country skirts economic collapse.
The troubled South Asian island nation is in the grip of a severe foreign exchange crisis that has led to acute shortages of food, fuel, medicines and industrial raw materials, sending inflation soaring.
Food inflation hit a record 25 percent in January while overall price increases reached 16.8 percent, a fourth consecutive monthly record.
Public transport has been crippled since Wednesday with no diesel for buses and large parts of the country of 21 million people hit by lengthy power cuts.
On Thursday, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa sacked the energy and industry ministers after they both criticised the government's efforts to deal with the crisis.
Another senior minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara expressed solidarity Friday with the sacked ministers and said he would not attend cabinet meetings.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka hiked the benchmark deposit and lending rates by 100 basis points each to 6.5 percent and 7.5 percent respectively.
The move follows a January decision to lift borrowing costs by 50 basis points.
The increases "will dampen the possible build-up of underlying demand pressures on the economy, which would, in turn, help ease pressures in the external sector", the bank said in a statement.
It also urged the government to increase fuel prices and electricity tariffs immediately as well as raise taxes to shore up government revenue. That came after a similar call by the International Monetary Fund.
The bank also appealed to officials to suspend ongoing infrastructure projects, sell state-owned land and discourage "non-essential" imports.
A broad import ban has been in place since March 2020 to shore up foreign reserves after the pandemic knocked out the lucrative tourism sector which previously earned about $4.5 billion annually.
In a statement following its annual review of Sri Lanka's economy, the IMF on Thursday warned the country that its foreign debt was "unsustainable" and called for urgent action.
Official data shows Sri Lanka needs nearly $7 billion to service its foreign debt this year, but the country's external reserves at the end of January were only $2.07 billion -- just enough to finance one month's imports.
Y.Bouchard--BTB