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‘s Cadbury purchase: report
NEW DELHI, January 3, 2011 (AFP) – India’s finance ministry has launched a probe into the takeover by Illinois-based Kraft Foods of British confectionery giant Cadbury that could see the US company hit with a huge tax bill, a report said Monday. The ministry has begun looking into the deal that saw Kraft buy the […]
Sri Lanka aims for 8.5% growth in 2011
Jan 04, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is aiming for economic growth of 8.5 percent in 2011 after growing eight percent in 2010 and expects growth to accelerate to nine percent in 2012 and 9. 5 percent in 2013, central bank governor Nivard Cabraal said. Government recurrent expenditure is estimated to decrease to 16.1 percent […]
Sri Lanka BOP surplus in 2010 US$900mn
Jan 04, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka expect to have had a balance of payments surplus of 900 million US dollars in 2010, Central Bank governor Nivard Cabraal said. Gross official foreign exchange reserves reached 6.6 billion US dollars by the end of 2010, he said in a speech outlining the central bank’s monetary policy […]
Sri Lanka shares end up 0.33-pct
Jan 03, 2011, (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed higher Monday with activity seen in the index heavy and poultry sector stocks, brokers said. The All Share Price Index closed at 6,657. 91, up 0.33 percent (22.04 points) while the more liquid Milanka index closed flat at 7,061. 36, according to stock exchange provisional figures. […]
Optional Deal
Jan 03, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shipbuilder Colombo Dockyard has won an optional contract to build a third Multipurpose Platform Supply Vessels (MPSV) for Greatship Global Offshore Services of Singapore, a statement said. The main contract for the construction of two 78-metre MPSVs, signed in October 2010, provided for Greatship Global Offshore Services (GGOSL) […]
Derived Rating
Jan 03, 2011 (LBO) – RAM Ratings Lanka has confirmed State Mortgage and Investment Bank’s (SMIB) long- and short-term financial institutions ratings of A and P1 with a stable outlook for the former, a statement said. “The ratings are based on the bank’s strong capitalisation and the financial flexibility it derives from its sole shareholder, […]
Sri Lanka to test new visa scheme for three months
Jan 03, 2011 (LBO) – A new online visa scheme Sri Lanka plans to introduce, replacing existing on-arrival visas, will be tested for three months before the government decides to implement it, an official said. Sri Lanka received more than 600,000 tourists in 2010 and aims to attract 700,000 this year. Nalaka Godahewa, chairman of […]
Sri Lanka considers banning mini-skirts
January 3, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Monday it was considering banning mini-skirts following complaints about women wearing skimpy clothing in the conservative island nation. Last year, US singer Akon was denied a visa to perform in Sri Lanka after Buddhist monks took offence at one of his videos that featured women in bikinis […]
Sri Lanka rupee strength helps rein in inflation: CB
Jan 03, 2011 (LBO) – The strengthening of the Sri Lanka rupee helped rein in inflation which was kept at a mid-single digit level in 2010, the central bank said in a statement. The average domestic prices of wheat flour and milk powder decreased while the price of sugar increased compared to 2009. The Sri […]
Sri Lanka tourist trade raises alarm over new visa rule
Jan 02, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tourist industry wants the government to postpone a new rule to charge for visas, scrapping on-arrival visas, saying it could deter visitors whose numbers boomed after the end of a war, a report said. Approval for a visa would not take more than a single day. ‘New visa […]