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Sri Lanka tea price fall squeezes producer margins
May 27, 2008 (LBO) – The fall in tea prices in recent weeks owing to the seasonal increase in supply and lower quality has put producers’ margins under pressure, brokers said. It came during the island’s Western quality season when teas from the western slopes of the central hills are at their best quality and […]
Engineering Row
May 27, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-enterprise engineers are starting industrial action after the government denied them tax-slashed cars, with a warning of tougher measures if no notice is taken of their demands within the next two weeks. Other officers in state-enterprises and statutory bodies have also been denied the privilege. But engineers say […]
Sri Lanka Tamil Tiger fund raising revealed in Canada
May 27, 2008 (LBO) – A Canadian court have released documents seized from Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger sympathisers that provide more evidence of rebel fund raising efforts. He said he was “expecting a huge sum” of money and that Tamil activists should “act accordingly,” says the document, written by the Tamil Tigers International Coordination Centre […]
Sri Lankan president vows non-stop war against Tamil Tigers
May 27, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president vowed Tuesday to press on with a military campaign to crush Tamil Tiger rebels, a day after guerrillas set off a bomb inside a train killing nine and wounding 84 people.“I will not stop till terrorism is defeated,” President Mahinda Rajapakse told journalists during a meeting at […]
Vietnam inflation hits 25 percent in May
HANOI, May 27, 2008 (AFP) – Vietnamese consumer prices surged by over 25 percent in May compared to the same month last year, a trend driven mainly by sharply higher food prices, the communist government said Tuesday. Prices shot up an estimated 3.91 percent between April and May alone, a period that saw some panic-buying […]
US recession still probable: Greenspan
LONDON, May 27, 2008 (AFP) – A recession in the United States remains a probability, former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said in an interview published Tuesday. Speaking to the Financial Times from Washington, Greenspan said he believed “there is a greater than 50 percent probability of recession.” He noted, however, that “that probability has […]
China plans three telecom giants
BEIJING, May 27, 2008 (AFP) – China plans to create three telecom giants as it seeks to bring balance back to an industry where mobile operators have seen the fastest growth by far, the government and state press said Tuesday.Under the plan, the world’s biggest mobile operator China Mobile will acquire fixed-line operator China Tietong […]
Unilateral
May 27, 2008 (LBO) – Lanka IOC, the Sri Lanka unit of the Indian Oil Corporation is raising diesel prices by 20 rupees a litre from midnight Tuesday, the company said. Wheat prices peaked in February, gold in March and rice in April. Oil however is still buoyant hitting a new high of 135 dollars […]
Sri Lanka state sector is heavy on poor: minister
May 27, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has the world’s biggest public sector which is too big a burden on the poor, and the public service must do more to drive economic growth, a senior minister has said.The recruitment to the public sector on an ad hoc basis and the availability of non-performance based benefits […]
Sri Lanka to raise minimum wage
May 27, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka employers grouping, unions and the government are in discussions to raise minimum wages in the country, an official said Tuesday. Deputy director general of the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon Kanishka Weerasinghe said discussions have started with the department of labour and other stakeholders for around three dozen types […]