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‘s tense north
September 16, 2008 (AFP) – The United Nations pulled its staff out of rebel-held areas in Sri Lanka’s north on Tuesday after the government refused to guarantee the safety of aid workers.Some 70,000 people have fled due to fighting in the past two months alone. The withdrawal came as the island’s government said it was […]
‘s Treasury chief leaves
Sept 17, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Treasury Secretary P B Jayasundera is leaving his position having completed preparatory work on the 2009 budget, a senior government official said.Jayasundera originally handed over his resignation shortly after a court order faulted him on a privatization deal, but it was not immediately accepted. An official said the […]
Sri Lanka stocks fall on blue chip losses
Sept 17, 2008 (LBO) – Share prices fell in Wednesday’s trading with the indices dragged down by falls in blue chips and confusion in the market over the pricing of Brown and Company after a share split and ‘bonus’ issue. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to […]
Sri Lanka economists to talk inflation at annual parley
Sept 17 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economists are debating inflation, competitiveness and growth this Friday and Saturday at a time when inflation has hit a historic record in the island and subsequent tight monetary policy has strengthened the rupee. “The extent of such gap in aggregate supply will depend on whether the economy is […]
Port Race
Sept 16, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is hoping to call fresh bids for a container terminal concession in an expanded port in Colombo in October, a government minister said, after an earlier bidding round was abandoned partway through the process. A breakwater to expand Colombo port is now being built with Asian Development Bank […]
Bus bomb explodes in Sri Lanka capital
Sept 16, 2008 (LBO) – A bomb placed in a commuter bus in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo exploded after vigilant passengers discovered a suspicious parcel and got off the bus, police said.The bus was passing through the capital’s plush Colombo 7 district, when the bomb was discovered. Passengers had dis-embarked when the bomb went off, […]
British inflation spikes to 4.7 percent in August
LONDON, September 16, 2008 (AFP) – British 12-month inflation hit a fresh 16-year high of 4.7 percent in August on the back of soaring domestic energy bills, official data showed. Britain’s economy experienced zero percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the second quarter, which was the country’s weakest performance for 16 years. Despite the […]
Commodity bubble deflation eases US inflation index
WASHINGTON, September 16, 2008 (AFP) – US consumer prices dropped 0.1 percent in August as falling energy costs eased inflation pressures, government data showed Tuesday. The softer inflation came as welcome news for an economy battered by a credit crunch and real estate woes, analysts said. Some said it could make it easier for the […]
AIG gets lifeline as shares go into free fall
NEW YORK, September 15, 2008 (AFP) – Struggling US insurance giant American International Group was thrown a life-line Monday by New York authorities, who said the company could borrow some 20 billion dollars from its subsidiaries. New York Governor David Paterson said he had called on regulators “to provide the authorization, such that AIG can […]
Bank of Japan prints 1.5 trillion yen to grease markets
TOKYO, September 16, 2008 (AFP) – The Bank of Japan on Tuesday injected 1.5 trillion yen (14.4 billion dollars) into money markets in a bid to contain market turmoil after the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers. The central bank said on its website that it injected the sum onto the open markets at […]