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Sri Lanka allays private sector fears over trade deals
Mar 30, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government recognises private sector fears of non-tariff barriers in bilateral trade deals and will not open up the economy against its wishes, a senior minister said.The free trade deal with India, for instance, recognised the asymmetric character of the economic ties between the two countries given their differences […]
Sri Lanka IMF talks stretch to second week
Mar 30, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka rupee closed at 115.20/45 against the greenback, with the country’s reserves running low as talks with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package, stretched to a second week. The Sri Lanka rupee broke the Central Bank’s defended peg level of 114.25 last Thursday. The IMF team […]
Number Crunching
Mar 29, 2009 (LBO)- Consciously or unconsciously, we use statistics in everything we do in our day to day life.When we say that it rained yesterday, we simply pronounce a fact we have observed as having happened.When we say that it is raining now, we again mention something that we have observed as happening. When […]
Sri Lanka govt says 46 Tigers killed in fresh fighting
March 29, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan government troops killed at least 46 rebels during weekend battles in the northeast of the island where they have cornered the Tamil Tiger guerrillas, the defence ministry said Sunday.Verification of battlefield claims is almost impossible as the authorities do not allow independent journalists and international observers to travel […]
Foreign aid groups seek access to war-torn Sri Lanka
NEW DELHI, March 28, 2009 (AFP) – A senior European official said Saturday that aid groups want to help Sri Lanka meet the humanitarian needs of civilians in the country’s battle zone and are “not against” the government.Sri Lanka hit back earlier this week against human rights and aid groups, accusing them of supporting the […]
Sri Lanka spends US$240mn in peg defence in Feb09
Mar 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has spent 240 million US dollars in February 2009 defending a dollar peg in an ill-fated exercise that has already drained two-thirds of the country’s foreign reserves, the latest official data shows.Sri Lanka’s gross official reserves, including fiscal balances, fell to 1,415 million US dollars in January from […]
Sri Lankan tea prices fall further
March 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices fell again at this week’s auction as quality dropped with the end of the season and rains in planting districts indicated bigger crops in future, brokers said.“In the Large Leaf catalogues OP1s and OPs were the most affected and marked down by 20 to 30 rupees […]
Sri Lanka Tigers killed one civilian fleeing fighting: army
March 28, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military on Saturday accused the Tamil Tiger rebels of firing at civilians fleeing fighting in the north of the country, killing one and injuring two.Amnesty said the Tigers were holding civilians hostage and were “reported to have deliberately attacked civilians that have tried to escape from areas under […]
Sri Lanka rupee weakens in volatile trade
Mar 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka rupee fell to 115.35/50 levels against the greenback in intra-day trading Friday with heavy buying from foreign banks while the monetary authority briefly took the foot off peg defence, dealers said. The rupee hit a low of 115.75 against the greenback when peg defence was eased amidst heavy […]
Sri Lanka shares end firmer
March 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares ended firmer Friday with the indices pushed up by gains in John Keells Holdings, Distilleries and also Seylan Bank, in which a controlling stake was offered for sale by the central bank, brokers said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and […]