All Blogs
Mexico peso sinks to new low against dollar
MEXICO CITY, October 22, 2008 (AFP) – Mexico’s peso changed hands at 13.74 to the dollar at the end of trading Wednesday, a new record low, despite billions of dollars injected onto the market by the central bank in recent weeks. The peso closed Tuesday at 13.13 to the dollar. Mexico’s central bank began selling […]
Sri Lanka stocks plunge, foreign selling weakens sentiment
Oct 23, 2008 (LBO) – The slide in Sri Lankan shares deepened Thursday with the indices dragged down by sharp falls in blue chips as brokers said foreign selling in recent days had confirmed fears of a sell-off and weakened sentiment. Sri Lanka Telecom fell 5.26 percent (two rupees) to 36 rupees with 100,700 shares […]
Credit Crunch
BASEL, October 23, 2008 (AFP) – Cross-border lending by banks fell 1.1 trillion dollars in the second quarter of 2008, the biggest decline for a decade, latest BIS figures showed on Thursday, underlining the severity of the credit crisis. Banks were also hit by one trillion dollars’ worth of withdrawals, particularly by clients in the […]
Profit Report
Oct 23, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank’s consolidated September quarter profits grew 48.1 percent to 395.3 million while revenues grew 23.8 percent to 5.8 billion rupees, interim accounts filed with the Stock Exchange showed. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 The bank’s interest […]
Sri Lanka tea factory owners ask for help as prices crash
Oct 23, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan private tea factory owners are asking for a six billion rupee bank over draft bailout package to help them get over the crisis caused by the crash in prices. “The sudden, massive drop in prices and large quantities of that category of teas offered remaining unsold either because […]
Sri Lanka small tea farmers to get fertilizer subsidy
Oct 23, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is offering a fertilizer subsidy to small tea farmers three times a year, at a cost of 4.7 billion rupees a year, officials said, while Colombo tea prices slid on a commodity bubble collapse. Sri Lanka’s populist vote-buying subsidies have been blamed for the large budget deficits in […]
” cockatoo rediscovered in Indonesia: researchers
JAKARTA, October 23, 2008 (AFP) – A species of cockatoo feared to have become extinct has been “rediscovered” with the sighting of a handful of breeding pairs on a remote Indonesian island, researchers said Thursday. Ten Yellow-crested Abbott’s cockatoos were found on the Masalembu archipelago off Java island, the Indonesian Cockatoo Conservation group told AFP. […]
Sri Lanka battle rages despite heavy rains: military
October 23, 2008 (AFP) – Government forces captured several bunkers from Tamil Tiger rebels as heavy fighting raged despite torrential monsoon rains in northern Sri Lanka, the defence ministry said Thursday. Security forces battling to capture the rebels’ political capital of Kilinochchi overcame resistance from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) near the village […]
Sri Lanka to get ADB trade finance support
Oct 23, 2008 (LBO) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC) have launched a trade finance scheme for developing countries the initial phase of which will be in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. An ADB statement said the bank and SMBC have entered a risk-sharing agreement that will enhance support […]
France announces sovereign wealth fund to protect champions
ANNECY, October 23, 2008 (AFP) – President Nicolas Sarkozy announced the creation of a French sovereign wealth fund on Thursday, promising to protect the strategic heights of the economy from the global financial storm. Declaring that the recent turmoil had killed off the “dictatorship of the market”, Sarkozy vowed to lead Europe towards a model […]