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Food Profits
Sept 21, 2009 (LBO) – The catering unit of state-run Sri Lankan Airlines said it was expecting an upturn with more visitors coming to the island after a war with a 1.2 billion rupee net profit already under its belt in the year to March 2009. These include Emirates, Qatar, Malaysian Airlines, Royal Jordanian, Kuwait […]
Regulatory hitches threaten Bharti-MTN deal: reports
NEW DELHI, September 21, 2009 (AFP) – India’s top mobile firm Bharti Airtel and South African cellular flagship MTN are ready to sign a tie-up deal but regulatory issues could stymie a final agreement, reports said Monday. “The deal is all set, agreed and legally ready to be signed,” the Business Standard newspaper quoted an […]
Sri Lanka gets UN refugee envoy visit: official
September 21, 2009 (AFP) – The United Nations is sending a top official to Sri Lanka this week to press for the speedy resettlement of 300,000 war-displaced, officials said Monday, the second UN visit in as many weeks.Walter Kalin, the UN Secretary-General’s envoy for refugee rights, will arrive late Wednesday for a five-day visit that […]
‘s exchange rate gamble likely to be repeated, ask economists
Sept 21 2009 (LBO) – Will Sri Lanka’s latest balance of payments crisis, triggered by an unstable peg be a lesson for the future, or was it a gamble which was barely won but is doomed to be repeated again, economists at a conference in Colombo asked.Sri Lanka tried to defend a dollar peg when […]
Tertiary Reform
Sep 20, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tertiary education policy should change to encourage fee-based universities of international standard to be set up, which will prevent students going abroad for degrees, a senior academic has said. Due to under-investment in tertiary education, areas for which there is a demand in the economy, such as engineering, […]
Sri Lanka raises 23 mln dollars to rehabilitate ex-combatants
September 20, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is seeking foreign money for an ambitious plan to rehabilitate tens of thousands of former Tamil Tiger rebels and has already collected 23 million dollars, officials said Sunday. The Tamil Tigers, who fought for a separate homeland from 1972, were defeated by Sri Lankan troops in mid-May when […]
Sri Lanka women workers to face brunt of EU GSP loss
Sept 20, 200 (LBO) – Women workers would be hardest hit if the European Union withdraws duty free market access to Sri Lankan exports, given to countries that meet a governance and a rights threshold set by the trade bloc.The potential loss of the GSP Plus duty concession could lead to job losses if Sri […]
Sri Lanka to use monetary policy tool mix to target inflation: CB official
Sept 19, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka was ready to change intermediate targets or vary its policy tools dynamically to keep inflation low, a senior central banker said, though the final inflation target is as yet somewhat loosely defined.Sri Lanka’s central bank has a loosely defined inflation target of “single digit”.In 2007 and 2008 Sri […]
Sri Lanka thieves hot on spices
Sept 18, 2009 (LBO) – Theft of spices from Sri Lankan gardens is a serious problem that could kill the trade, the new head of the island’s spice traders association has said. The global demand for spices will continue to increase because of growing awareness that consumption of spices contribute to good health, he said. […]
UN calls for Sri Lanka probe into rights abuse charges
September 19, 2009 (AFP) – A top UN official issued a strong call for “truth-seeking” into alleged excesses by security forces during the crushing of Tamil rebels as he ended a visit to Sri Lanka, a UN statement said Saturday. The UN has said that up to 7,000 civilians may have perished in the first […]