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Sri Lanka lifts forex forward curbs
May 25, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank Monday lifted restrictions on foreign exchange forward contracts imposed late last year amid a balance of payments crisis, allowing the market to act freely, a top official said. The IMF loan has been delayed amid political wrangling from the US in particular, but the lenders said […]
Sri Lankan stocks down, rupee steady
May 25, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares Monday shed some of the gains of last week’s bull-run owing to profit taking and concern over poor corporate results, while the rupee remained rock-steady against the dollar, brokers and dealers said.Sri Lanka’s largest privately held bank, Commercial Bank of Ceylon lost 1.50 rupees to close at […]
Safe Harbour
May 25, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to lobby Lloyd’s of London to remove a war risk tag on the country which kept insurance premiums high, following defeat of Tamil Tigers by the military last week, a media report said. The Island newspaper said Sri Lanka is classified as a ‘region of war’ by […]
Sri Lanka tea output recovers in April
May 25, 2009 (LBO)- Sri Lanka’s total tea production in April 2009 shows an increase compared with the same month a year ago, indicating the crop is recovering from the effects of severe drought earlier this year.The Sri Lanka Tea Board said total tea production in April was 29.2 million kilos, up 4.8 percent from […]
Tele Merger
May 25, 2009 (LBO) – India’s Bharti Airtel said it was talking with MTN group, a firm operating in Africa and the Middle East, to buy 49 percent of its in return for a 36 percent stake in the Indian firm. Bharti Airtel has a unit in Sri Lanka. The Bharti shares would be split […]
Thin Margins
May 25, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Telecom group said profits fell 42 percent to 974 million rupees in the March 2009 quarter with fixed access revenues falling while the mobile sector showed growth. Chairperson Leisha De Silva Chandresena said the firm’s performance came amid adverse economic conditions worldwide. The firm said broadband and data […]
Tigers admit leader dead; UN presses Sri Lanka over access
May 24, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers on Sunday admitted for the first time that their leader was killed by government forces a week ago as the UN demanded better access for civilians displaced in recent fighting. Almost a week after the government said its troops had killed Velupillai Prabhakaran, 54, in an […]
Sri Lanka gets more Emirates flights
May 25, 2009 (LBO) – Emirates said it will increase flights to the Sri Lankan capital Colombo by resuming services via Male from July 1 with the launch of three additional flights a week between Dubai and Colombo.From July 1, 2009, Emirates flight EK 654 will depart Dubai at 1020 hours local time and arrive […]
Extravagant IPL changes world landscape
JOHANNESBURG, May 25, 2009 (AFP) – Commissioner Lalit Modi claimed after Sunday’s final that the Indian Premier League had become a global phenomenon.The claim might have been a touch extravagant, but there could be no doubt that the second version of cricket’s richest tournament, moved at short notice from India to South Africa, contributed to […]
Sri Lanka to hold local elections in north
May 25, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is to hold local elections later this year in parts of northern areas formerly held by the Tamil Tigers for the first time in 15 years, an official said Monday. A spokesman for the local government ministry said voting will be held between August 4 and 17 to […]