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Persian Present
April 16, 2008 (LBO) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will flag off a billion dollar oil refinery in Sri Lanka, as part of his state visit to the island later this month, officials said. . Sri Lanka’s petroleum minister A H M Fowzie said President Ahmadinejad would lay the foundation stone for the refinery on […]
Pricing Issue
April 16, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka would raise fuel prices before the end of the month after running losses of 7.2 billion rupees in 2008, petroleum minister A H M Fowzie said. Up to April 15, the state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation had lost 1,856 million rupees. In March the utility had lost 3,769 million […]
Sri Lanka central bank decries over staffing of government sector
April 16, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has criticised the practice of ruling party politicians of stuffing the state sector with their supporters, saying such over staffing is not only wasteful but creates worker shortages in the private sector. It said in its annual report for 2007 that unemployment in the island was […]
‘s war, fiscal reversals, policy stance hit sovereign rating: S&P
April 16, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s internal war and a reversal in ‘tentative’ improvements in state finances had made the country less able to weather shocks, putting its credit rating at risk, the rating agency Standard & Poor’s said. The rating agency said debt ratios were above the average for the ‘B+’ rating awarded […]
Sri Lanka plantation stocks draw interest
April 15, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks edged higher Tuesday with plantations stocks drawing some interest in an otherwise dull market on anticipation of higher earnings from high commodity prices. All Share Price Index went up 10.98 points or 0.42 percent to 2,625.61 while the more liquid Milanka Price Index rose 15.58 points (0.48 […]
Shady Deals
April 15, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s stock markets regulator is investigating a number of cases of manipulation of the share market on the Colombo Stock Exchange, a senior state counsel has revealed. Buwaneka Aluwihare, deputy solicitor general of the Attorney-General’s Department, said that the offences in some of the cases were being compounded with […]
‘s Brandix clothing exporter cuts energy, water use with redesigned plant
April 15, 2008 (PBO) Sri Lanka’s Brandix Group, which exports clothes to international retailer Marks & Spencer, has spent 2.5 million dollars to redesign a 30-year-old factory to meet ‘green’ factory standards. The conversion achieved a 45 percent saving in energy, cut water consumption by nearly 60 percent, improved solid waste management and reduced carbon […]
Daughter of assassinated Indian PM says met conspirator in prison
NEW DELHI, April 15, 2008 (AFP) – The daughter of assassinated Indian premier Rajiv Gandhi on Tuesday confirmed she had met one of the people behind her father’s murder. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said meeting Nalini Sriharan at her prison helped her come to terms with the killing of her father by a suicide bomber in […]
Pakistan to reduce money printing amid high inflation: finance minister
April 15, (LBO) – Pakistan will reduce its borrowings from the Central Bank in the coming months to cut inflation, newly appointed finance minister Ishaq Dar has said. “Government borrowings have been quite excessive from the central bank in the last nine months,” Dar was quoted as saying in Bloomberg at the IMF meetings in […]
White House releases US$200mn in food aid after printing money to create commodity bubble
WASHINGTON, April 14, 2008 (AFP) – The White House on Monday authorized the release of 200 million dollars in emergency food aid to help alleviate a growing global food crisis, a spokeswoman said. “With this action, an estimated 200 million in emergency food aid will be made available through the US Agency for International Development,” […]