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Sri Lanka central bank says inflation would be higher than target
May 26, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said inflation would be higher than targeted in 2008, as the monetary authority found it difficult to counter pressures from rising commodity prices, especially oil. “In the circumstances there is a strong likelihood of the actual 2008 inflation being significantly higher than the previous estimates..,” the […]
Bus Fares
May 25, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s bus fares will go up by an average 27.2 percent from Monday following a 37 percent rise in diesel prices on Saturday, an official said. The island has a formula under a national pricing policy agreed with bus operators and the government. The fares were finalized following discussions […]
Money may buy happiness (or not): economists renew debate
WASHINGTON, May 25, 2008 (AFP) – The saying goes that money can’t buy happiness.But inquiring economists have been working for decades trying to prove or disprove the notion.Resarchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business released a study in April showing “a clear positive link” between wealth and “subjective well-being,” based on global […]
‘s highest rate of over 100-year-olds: expert
HAVANA, May 24, 2008 (AFP) – About 1,800 Cubans are over 100 years old, making it the country with the highest rate of centenarians, an expert said Saturday.Eugenio Selman-Housein, chairman of the 120 Years Club and previously head of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro’s medical team, also said “life expectancy has gone up to almost […]
To predict quakes, listen to the animals, China survivors say
TANGSHAN, China, May 25, 2008 (AFP) – Well before this city was destroyed by an earthquake 32 years ago, the coming disaster was loudly preceded by strange animal behaviour and other bizarre signals that survivors wish they heeded.“The animals were trying to tell us something.If only we knew that, not so many people would have […]
Sri Lanka told by US to practice what it preaches
May 25, 2008 (LBO) – The United States has said Sri Lanka’s government must do more to stop abductions and “disappearances” and that having laws alone is not enough without ensuring actual protection of human rights. “Sri Lanka has the necessary institutional framework in place, but it needs to empower its institutions to carry out […]
Reserve currencies should stop money printing to contain commodity bubble: IMF study
May 25, 2008 (LBO) – The world’s major ‘reserve currency’ central banks should stop money printing to end a monetary shock that is firing a global commodity bubble and food riots in poor countries, a new International Monetary Fund study has said. The money issued by major central banks such as the Federal Reserve and […]
Leasing Rating
May 24, 2008 (LBO) – Fitch Sri Lanka has confirmed a ‘BBB-(lka)’ rating of Ceylease Financial Services (CFSL), a unit of state-run Bank of Ceylon, with a ‘stable’ outlook but said interest costs and bad loans were rising. Fitch says the comparatively high net NPL to equity ratios are partly due to the company’s relatively […]
Sri Lanka warplanes bomb restive north: defence ministry
May 24, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka warplanes bombed a suspected rebel boat yard and provided cover for ground troops pushing into rebel territory, the defence ministry said Saturday. On Saturday, the proxy Tamil National Alliance (TNA) also accused the government of carrying out attacks against civilians. “We vehemently condemn the cowardly and brutal attack […]
‘s richest man Buffet
BERLIN, May 24, 2008 (AFP) – While economists quibble, the world’s richest man has decided: the United States is already in recession.So Warren Buffet tells German magazine Der Spiegel in an interview to be published on Monday. “It is perhaps not a recession in the way that economists would understand it…but people are already feeling […]