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Sri Lanka fines US embassy for illegal water supply: official
October 16, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s main water utility said Friday it had fined the US embassy in Colombo more than 3,000 dollars for illegally tapping supplies from the national network.The National Water Supply and Drainage Board said it found that the supply to US ambassador Patricia Butenis’ official residence in Colombo bypassed the […]
Sri Lanka refugee hunger strike fails to sway Australian PM
SYDNEY, October 16, 2009 (AFP) – Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Friday refused to be swayed by hundreds of Sri Lankan asylum-seekers who launched a hunger strike after their wooden boat was stopped in Indonesia.Rudd said the 255 people, who are refusing to leave their boat and earlier threatened to set it on fire, […]
Sri Lanka may get US$700mn FDI in 2009: official
Oct 16, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is in line to receive 600 to 700 million US dollars in foreign direct investment in 2009 and fresh applications are pouring in after the end of a 30-year civil war, officials said. “We have had discussions with the World Bank officials to see how we can score […]
Sri Lanka post-war re-construction draws US firms
Oct 16, 2009 (LBO) – American companies are keen to invest in Sri Lanka with the end of the ethnic war to help rebuild the economy and contribute to national reconciliation, government officials from both countries said.Export Development and International Trade Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris said some of America’s biggest companies had sent representatives to […]
Sri Lanka to present 4-month budget in November
Oct 16, 2009 (LBO) – A four-month mini budget is expected to be presented to parliament in November seeking approval for Sri Lanka’s government to spend 362 billion rupees collected from the people through taxes or borrowed. Sri Lanka has a bloated public sector that does not pay income tax on their salaries and more […]
Sri Lanka sovereign bond may yield 7.75-pct: report
Oct 15, 2009 (LBO) – A 500 million US dollar denominated bond maturing in 2015 now being sold by Sri Lanka may yield about 7.75 percent a year, lower than Sri Lanka’s first sovereign bond issued in 2007, a media report said. Foreign reserves have topped 4.4 billion US dollars from a low of around […]
Takeover
Oct 15, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s People’s Merchant Bank (PMB), an investment bank which is 39 percent owned by state-run People’s Bank, said it will acquire a finance company license by taking over a subsidiary.PMB said in a stock exchange filing that it has decided to take over the assets and liabilities of its […]
Sri Lanka to push adventure sports tourism
Oct 15, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is on the mark to push adventure sports tourism, riding the country’s geographical diversity following the conclusion of ‘Raid Amazones 2009’, an adventure sports event for women. Raid Amazones, one of the world’s biggest multi sport adventure events for women was worked out in Dambulla in central Sri […]
Sri Lanka east coast to get new hotels
Oct 15, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority has approved the construction of new hotels on a prime beach property on the island’s east coast following the end of the war, a senior official said. Sri Lanka aims to attract 2.5 million tourists by 2016 following the end of the war. The […]
Sri Lanka plantations real wage rates stagnant for years
Octo 15, 2009 (LBO) – Real wage rates earned by Sri Lanka’s plantations workers had been virtually stagnant for years, according to a report by a think tank.The Institute of Policy Studies said in a report on the state of the economy that poverty levels of plantations workers were also high, although there had been […]