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Sri Lankan stocks close 0.55-pct down
Dec 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed down Monday as retail investors stayed away owing to political uncertainty, while a large tranche of Asiri Hospital and John Keells Holdings (JKH) shares boosted market volumes, brokers said. The All Share Price Index closed at 3,039.78 down 0.55 percent (16.86 points) while the Milanka Price […]
Box Moves
Dec 14, 2009 (LBO) – Container volumes at a Colombo port terminal controlled by Sri Lanka’s John Keells Holdings have almost reached last year’s levels but those at the state-run facility are still lagging behind, latest figures show. The November 2009 volumes at South Asia Gateway Terminals (SAGT) were up 10.4 percent to 153,793 TEUs […]
Farming Message
Dec 14, 2009 (LBO) – Mobile phone message services like one deployed by the financial news agency Reuters to over a million farmers in India, could help Sri Lankan farmers earn more for their produce, experts said. Ranjit Pawar of Reuters Market Light, India said their SMS (short message service) in India provide farmers timely […]
India inflation hits 10-month high, surprises analysts
NEW DELHI, December 14, 2009 (AFP) – India’s inflation rate jumped to its highest level in 10 months, according to official data Monday, increasing pressure on the central bank to begin reversing aggressive interest rate cuts.The wholesale inflation rate, India’s closest watched inflation measure, increased by 4.78 percent in November from a year earlier after […]
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NEW DELHI, December 14, 2009 (AFP) – Indians, the world’s biggest buyers of gold, are increasingly opting for branded jewellery, attracting franchisers and foreign groups like Cartier at the expense of traditional retailers.Traditionally, most Indians would go to their small family jewellers, normally located in a congested wholesale market, sit down on cotton mattresses with […]
Sri Lanka current account in surplus amid economic slump
Dec 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s external current account is expected to swing into a surplus in 2009, for the first time since 1977, the central bank said, as the island was gripped by a severe trade contraction and economic slump. The central bank has locked up over five billion US dollars in reserves […]
Sri Lanka holds policy rates, despite inflation pick up
Dec 14, 2009 (LBO)- Sri Lanka’s central bank said it was holding its key policy rate at which money is injected to the economy at 9.75 percent, and the rate at which money is drained at 7.50 percent, to support credit growth, despite a pick up in inflation. “Prospects for domestic economic activity have improved […]
Sri Lanka north to put on business expo
Dec 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to host its first ever business expo in the North of the island, following the end of the country’s over three decade war. The expo is to be held from April 18 to April, 20 2010 at the Jaffna Central College. The trade fair is expected to […]
Fake
BANGKOK, December 11, 2009 (AFP) – Thai authorities have arrested five people for producing and smuggling more than 300 fake EU passports and other official European documents, officials said Friday.“He (Fathi) confessed that he had trafficked stolen passports into Thailand more than 20 times,” the statement said. The DSI said Thailand is a known hub […]
UN Call
December 11, 2009 (AFP) – A top United Nations envoy asked Sri Lanka on Friday to release detained Tamil Tiger child soldiers and urged the authorities to re-unite them with their families.The government allowed tens of thousands of civilians held in the IDP camps to go in and out freely from December 1, but aid […]