Finance Sale

Mar 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s People’s Merchant Bank, a listed company, said it will sell People’s Merchant Finance Company Ltd, a 99 percent owned registered finance company, for 430 million rupees. The firm will be sold to Capital Alliance Holdings, an investment banking firm, if regulatory approval is given, PMB said in a […]

Risk Cover

Mar 29, 2011 (LBO) – The International Finance Corporation (IFC) said it will provide a five million US dollar trade-finance facility to Sri Lanka’s Union Bank of Colombo. The funds will help boost international trade opportunities for the bank and its small-business and corporate-sector clients. “The trade-finance facility will provide the Union Bank of Colombo […]

Alternative Finance

Mar 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka expects to devise Islamic finance specific regulations this year following ongoing consultations with the industry, though the first commercial bank on alternative finance has been licensed on existing rules, an official said. At the moment a commercial bank operating on Islamic finance principles has no income earning asset […]

AirAsia, Expedia tie up to tap Asia travel demand

SINGAPORE, March 29, 2011 (AFP) – Budget carrier AirAsia and travel website Expedia announced a tie-up Tuesday to sell flights, hotel bookings and holiday packages in Asia in a bid to cash in on rising regional demand. It flies to 14 destinations — London, Taipei, Tehran, Paris, Seoul, Tokyo, China (Tianjin, Hangzhou, Chengdu), Australia (Gold […]

Sri Lanka construction, housing market expands

Mar 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s construction industry and housing market grew strongly in 2001 compared with the year before driven by infrastructure projects, resettlement after a war and increased borrowing. The construction sub sector of gross domestic product grew 9.3 percent in 2010 from a growth of 5.6 percent the previous year, the […]

Sri Lanka per capita income on the rise

Mar 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s per-capita income at market prices was estimated at 271, 259 rupees or 2,399 US dollars in 2010, up 14.7 percent in rupee terms or 16.6 percent in dollar terms from 2009, the government said. The Department of Census & Statistics (DCS) said in a statement Private Final Consumption […]

Sri Lanka economy grew 8.0-pct in 2010

Mar 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew eight percent in 2010, up from 3.5 percent the year before, the Department of Census & Statistics (DCS) said in a statement. The Department of Census & Statistics said the agriculture sector grew 7.0 percent in 2010, industry at 8.4 percent and services […]

Sri Lanka economic growth 8.1-pct in 2010: Deputy Governor

Mar 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economy is estimated to have grown by 8. 1 percent rebounding from a slowdown a year earlier as the country benefitted from a peace dividend, Central Bank deputy governor Dharma Dheerasinghe said. “In January exports have grown 72 percent,” Dheerasinghe said. Imports had grown at a slower rate […]

Sri Lanka shares close down 0.42-pct

Mar 28, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed down Monday with continuing interest seen in a cable firm and several private deals in an asset-rich pharmaceutical retailer, brokers said. The All Share Price Index closed at 7,210. 09, down 0.42 percent (30.18 points) while the more liquid Milanka index was barely changed at 6,838.41, […]

Fast Decisions

Mar 28, 2011 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government is seeking private investment proposals to modernise the neglected transport system and will give investors speedy approvals, a senior official said. A new transport master plan is being prepared to economically move people and freight, said Dhammika Perera, secretary to the ministry of transport. Investments are […]

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