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‘s defence chief urges censorship
COLOMBO, May 5, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s main media rights group on Monday voiced alarm after the island’s hawkish defence chief reportedly branded some journalists “traitors” and called for sweeping censorship. The Free Media Movement said Gotabhaya Rajapakse, who has long demanded strict controls on how news organisations are allowed to cover the war […]
Sri Lanka central bank responds to IMF letter
May 05, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank, which earlier protested an International Monetary Fund study on external impacts on inflation, has welcomed comments by a top IMF official based on results which were further disaggregated. Sri Lanka has been buffeted by chronic high inflation and balance of payments crises since a central bank […]
Sri Lanka central bank suppressing interest rates: researcher
May 05, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank is keeping interest rates suppressed and below the inflation rate to reduce government borrowing costs and maintain a high growth rate that presents a ‘rosy’ picture, a researcher says. “Galloping inflation is also due to suppression of the interest rate by the government,” says Muttukrishna Sarvananthan, […]
Sri Lanka clashes claim 43: military
May 4, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka bombed a rebel storage facility on Sunday, while heavy fighting in the island’s north claimed the lives of at least 35 Tiger rebels and eight soldiers, the defence ministry said.Air force fighter jets dropped bombs over a rebel supply and storage facility in the guerrilla-controlled northern district of […]
Sri Lanka clashes claim 19: military
May 4, 2008 (AFP) – Heavy fighting in northern Sri Lanka killed at least 18 Tiger rebels and one soldier, the defence ministry said Sunday.Government troops battled the rebels in the Mannar district on Saturday and claimed to have killed 18 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres and wounded 10 guerrillas, the statement said. […]
‘s budget airline grounded by lack of planes
May 4, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s state-run budget carrier has suspended operations indefinitely because of a lack of planes, an aviation official said Sunday.The budget airline, Mihin Lanka, has been dogged with financial trouble since it began commercial operations last April. “They (Mihin) don’t have an aircraft to fly passengers since the beginning of […]
” ahead of polls: finance ministry
MADRID, May 4, 2008 (AFP) – India’s inflation rate, which jumped to a more than three-year high last month, is a “big concern” for the government as it heads towards a general election due by May 2009, Indian Finance Secretary Subba Rao said Sunday in Spain.“I must say inflation has been a concern, inflation is […]
Asian finance ministers mull creation of currency swap fund
MADRID, May 4, 2008 (AFP) – Asian nations are in talks over the creation of a multinational 80-billion-dollar (52-billion-euro) foreign exchange pool to be used in case of another regional financial crisis, Japanese Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga said Sunday in Spain. “We are negotiating in that direction,” he told reporters at the annual meeting of […]
‘ts act on rice prices
HONG KONG, May 4, 2008 (AFP) – Rationing, subsidies, price-fixing cartels, export curbs — you name it, governments across the world are trying it out as they seek to shield their populations from the soaring price of rice.Wary of the political risk of millions of hungry people on their doorstep, some governments — notably in […]
No Malaysian minimum wage despite inflation fears: report
KUALA LUMPUR, May 4, 2008 (AFP) – Malaysia’s prime minister is not yet prepared to introduce a minimum monthly wage despite mounting pressure from trade unions amid inflationary fears, reports said Sunday.The country’s top union chief on Thursday called for pay of at least 1,200 ringgit (379 dollars) to help workers cope with soaring food […]