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Sri Lanka military says 41 killed in fresh fighting
Feb 25, 2008 (AFP) – At least 36 Tamil Tiger guerrillas and five Sri Lankan government soldiers have been killed in fresh fighting in and around rebel-held territory, the island’s defence ministry said Monday. War planes bombed a suspected Tamil Tiger naval base in the district of Kilinochchi on Sunday, inflicting heavy damage, the ministry […]
Sri Lanka central bank asks for currency note designs
Feb 25, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has called for public ideas to produce a new series of notes offering cash prizes for winning designs. The monetary authority has so far produced notes under 10 different themes from the time it was created soon after Sri Lanka gained independence from Britain. The first […]
Sri Lanka state workers demand trebling of festival allowance
Feb 25, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s powerful state worker unions have demanded a trebling of festival allowances as inflation tipped over 20 percent following loose monetary and fiscal policies in the past year. The latest in such moves is a new increase in car taxes after state workers were given thousands of tax-slashed cars. […]
Terminal Disease
Feb 24, 2008 (LBO) — Sri Lanka will cancel a controversial deal for a container terminal at Colombo port and bring new conditions after a consortium led by the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) won a financial bid, a media report said. The deal hit newspaper headlines with port workers alleging that state-run Sri Lanka […]
Bank Ownership
Feb 24, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s DFCC Bank has taken the Central Bank to court in a legal challenge on restrictions on its ownership of another bank in which it is a big shareholder, a newspaper reported. DFCC is resisting a ruling by the Central Bank Monetary Board seeking to reduce its shareholding in […]
Hard-pegged Hong Kong sees 4.3-pct inflation as US prices soar 4.6-pct in Jan 2008
HONG KONG, 2008 (AFP) – Higher food prices drove Hong Kong’s underlying inflation rate up to 4.3 percent year-on-year in January, official figures showed Friday. “Apart from the global food inflation, elevated energy prices, appreciation of the (Chinese yuan currency) and the weakening of the Hong Kong dollar would continue to pose upside risks to […]
A row with girlfriend that could divorce England from Scotland
EDINBURGH, Feb 24, 2008 (AFP) – Alex Salmond, the head of Scotland’s government, has spent his political life fighting for independence from London but says he bears no ill-will towards the “auld enemy”, the English. Nine months after his election as first minister, Salmond sits in his elegant official residence in Edinburgh insisting that independence […]
‘s inflation soars, world fears knock-on effects
SHANGHAI, Feb 24, 2008 (AFP) – As China’s factory floors feel the pressure from spiralling costs, there is growing nervousness in the rest of the world that the Asian giant’s next big export could be inflation.From air-conditioned US shopping malls to bustling African street markets and remote Asian villages, shoppers have become accustomed over recent […]
Sri Lanka suicide attack kills two
Feb 24, 2008 (AFP) – A suspected Tamil rebel suicide bomber killed two rival militants in eastern Sri Lanka on Sunday, officials said, as the government stepped up security in the capital to prevent new attacks. The suspected suicide attacker crashed his motorcycle into another motorbike carrying two members of a breakaway rebel faction in […]
Credit Crunch
Feb 23, 2008 (LBO) – Loans approved by Sri Lanka’s DFCC Bank in the nine months to December 2007 has plunged to 10 billion rupees from 17 billion a year before, the company told shareholders. DFCC said lower credit demand for capital expenditure, high interest rates and an effort to maintain credit quality slashed loan […]