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Choices: Dividend or danger?
Jan 04, 2010 (LBO) – Welcomed the New Year in Dhaka. In Bangladesh, one cannot not think about population. Outside the city states, Bangladesh has the highest population density in South Asia, and indeed the world. Greater Dhaka alone has close to 13 million people, almost two-thirds the population of Sri Lanka. Fertility and population growth […]
Sri Lanka targets 5 to 6-pct inflation in 2010
Jan 04, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is targeting 5 to 6 percent average inflation by end-2010 allowing the country’s base money to grow by 14.5 percent, building on low single digit inflation achieved in 2009, Central Bank governor Nivard Cabraal said. Sri Lanka ended 2009 with seasonally adjusted annual average inflation of 3.4 percent, […]
Sri Lanka economy to grow 3.5-pct in 2009: CB Governor
Jan 04, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economy is expected to grow by 3.5 percent in 2009 after it slowed down owing to global recession, with revenue picking up and exports seen recovering, Central Bank governor Nivard Cabraal said. Cabraal said the full integration of the north and east which had been affected by war […]
Sri Lanka East safe for tourists: Britain
Jan 03, 2009 (LBO) – Britain said it is no longer advising its citizens against travel to Sri Lanka’s East, but the north continued to be out of bounds though a 30-year war in the area ended last May. Britain’s foreign and commonwealth office (FCO) said it had removed an ‘all but essential travel’ tag […]
Small is big at Delhi auto show
NEW DELHI, January 3, 2010 (AFP) – Small will be big at an Indian auto show when the world’s leading manufacturers unveil a slew of compact cars designed for one of the world’s fastest growing markets. AutoExpo 2010, which begins on Tuesday and runs until January 11, is expected to be the biggest ever, featuring […]
Sri Lanka dismisses EU trade move
January 1, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president on Friday dismissed the European Union’s suspension of preferential trade status to the island, saying his government would resist foreign “strategic interference”. “We will not be held back by threatened economic sanctions or withdrawn trade concessions by those who seek strategic interference in the national affairs of […]
Sri Lankan presidential contender woos Tamil voters
January 2, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s former military chief Sarath Fonseka took his presidential campaign Saturday to the ethnic heartland of the Tamil Tiger rebellion he helped crush last year. The retired four-star general, who is seen as the main challenger to President Mahinda Rajapakse in polls slated for January 26, visited the northern […]
Harbour Move
Jan 01, 2010, (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) said it has expanded facilities for bunkering or ship fuel at Colombo port with the addition of another berth for oil tankers that will reduce delays. Colombo Port’s New North Pier, which has been developed as a multi-purpose berth, handled its first oil tanker […]
Sri Lanka govt deceiving people on taxes: TI
Jan 01, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government should ensure greater public awareness of taxes it imposes on the people and not deceive them through lack of transparency, the local arm of an international watchdog has said. Provisions which create the deception that a government can raise money to spend without taxing the people should […]
Sri Lanka central bank defends controversial note
Dec 31, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has defended a controversial 1,000 rupee note bearing the image of president Mahinda Rajapaksa, ahead of presidential polls, which had come under fire from the opposition and other critics. Critics had slammed the note as an ‘election handbill’, and that a group of soldiers at the […]