All Blogs
Sri Lanka to chair regional forum at Washington meet: CB chief
April 20, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will chair a meeting of South Asian central bank chiefs on the sidelines of International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings later this week, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said. To develop domestic-oriented economy or successfully ‘stimulate’ an economy through looser policy (money printing) a country has […]
Losing Proposition
April 18, 2009 (LBO)- During the three decades beginning from 1978, Sri Lanka had recorded on average an annual inflation rate of slightly over 11 percent. During the same period, its annual average economic growth rate amounted to 5 percent. These two macroeconomic numbers have prompted many to argue that inflation does not matter since, […]
Sri Lanka war zone: 3,000 civilians flee, military says
April 19, 2009 (AFP) – Nearly 3,000 civilians escaped from Sri Lanka’s war zone and sought shelter with security forces, the defence ministry said Sunday as troops stepped up an offensive against cornered Tiger rebels.The non-combatants escaped Saturday evening from the remaining area under the control of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the […]
Sri Lanka Tiger chief not seen as troops close in
April 19, 2009 (AFP) – As Sri Lanka’s decades-long civil war moves into what appears to be a bloody end game, all eyes are on a small strip of coastal jungle, looking for signs of the elusive leader of the Tamil Tigers. The rotund rebel chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, a 54-year-old with decades of experience surviving […]
Britain wants swift UN Sri Lanka report
LONDON, April 18, 2009 (AFP) – Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Saturday he would ask UN chief Ban Ki-moon’s top aide to report to the Security Council “immediately” on his return from strife-torn Sri Lanka. Miliband said he was “gravely concerned” about the conflict there, while insisting that the government was listening to protesters […]
Seylan Sale
April 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank says six parties have expressed interest in buying a one-third stake of Seylan Bank, which was put under the wing of a state bank following a run on its deposits. Seylan Bank, a unit of Sri Lanka’s Ceylinco group, suffered a run after an unregulated firm […]
US environment agency deems CO2 a health risk
WASHINGTON, April 18, 2009 (AFP) – The US Environmental Protection Agency shifted course Friday by deeming carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases a health risk, in a landmark turnaround that could impact climate change regulation. “After a thorough scientific review ordered in 2007 by the US Supreme Court, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a proposed […]
Sri Lanka keeps up offensive despite calls for fresh truce
April 18, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops on Saturday kept up their offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels cornered in the northeast, the defence ministry said, ignoring mounting international appeals for a ceasefire.The island’s government accused the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of firing heavy artillery and mortars from an area it has designated […]
Australian Tamils call off hunger strike
SYDNEY, April 18, 2009 (AFP) – Tamil protesters who staged a seven-day hunger strike outside the Australian prime minister’s home said Saturday they had ended their protest following assurances their demands had been heard. “Australia continues to call on the Sri Lankan government to put forward credible political reforms to engage Tamils and other minorities […]
Sri Lanka to dip into deflation by mid 2009
April 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s inflation will dip below zero briefly by the middle of 2009, the island’s central bank governor Nivard Cabraal said as the world is gripped by a classic deflationary collapse. During the great depression, when the dollar strengthened and people pulled money out of banks to bury in their […]