All Blogs
Banks may need another US$143 bln to deal with downgrades: study
PARIS, Jan 25, 2008 (AFP) – Major world banks might need to raise a further 143 billion dollars in capital to confront the impact of ratings downgrades to bond insurers, a study by Barclays Capital warned Friday.A downgrade to the bond insurer would therefore force banks, which have already revalued billions of dollars in assets […]
Sri Lanka defence chief calls for ban on Tamil Tigers: report
Jan 26, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s defence secretary has called for a ban on the Tamil Tigers and said the ongoing military campaign was aimed at destroying the rebels’ top leaders, a report said Saturday.Rajapakse, who is President Mahinda Rajapakse’s younger brother, said the military had started a campaign to capture rebel-held areas in […]
Sri Lanka journalist knifed, media rights bodies appalled
Jan 26, 2008 (LBO) – Media rights bodies have expressed outrage after a journalist attached to a state-run television channel was ambushed on his way home and knifed by two attackers. Lal Mawalage of the Rupavahini television channel had spoken live on behalf of employees when labour minister Mervyn de Silva stormed the newsroom with […]
Sri Lankan ex-warlord jailed in Britain
LONDON, Jan 25, 2008 (AFP) – A former Sri Lankan Tamil guerrilla leader was jailed for nine months in Britain Friday after being found guilty of having false documents, the Home Office said.Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, also known as Colonel Karuna, was sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court in London after admitting the charge at a lower court […]
‘s Tamil Tigers should not walk out of talks half-way: envoy
WASHINGTON, Jan 25, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Friday it could not return to the negotiating table with the Tamil Tigers unless there was a guarantee from the rebels that they would not walk away from the talks. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) must also be prepared to compromise on its demand […]
Sri Lanka sees build up of bipartisan support for inflation targeting
Jan 26, 2008 (LBO) — A senior opposition lawmaker in Sri Lanka has expressed support for inflation targeting, in a build up of bipartisan backing for legal changes needed to take the country towards low inflation.. “If you print money inflation is going to go up,” parliamentarian Kabir Hashim, an economic policy heavyweight in the […]
Sri Lanka to scrap country-wide index after inflation jumps to 26.2-pct
Jan 25, 2008 (LBO) — Sri Lanka will scrap a country-wide price index that showed a record 26.2 percent inflation in November 2007, officials said.“By releasing several indices, or making public aware of several indices, problems have come up,” Sri Lanka’s statistics chief Suranjana Vidyaratne said. “Though we have done this as a technical subject […]
Sri Lankan share prices slump, trading dries up
Jan 25, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks weakened further Friday with trading drying up to just a trickle as investors stayed away from the market owing to political and economic uncertainty. The All Share Index fell 3.21 points to 2,433.50 while the liquid Milanka index closed hardly unchanged at 3,125.25. Turnover slumped to 66 […]
Travel Costs
Jan 25, 2008 (LBO) – The national transportation commission of Sri Lanka has authorised a hike in bus fares due to recent fuel price increase, but private bus owners say it is insufficient. The fare increases approved by the commission will be effective from February 1 and are meant to minimise the effects of recent […]
Net Security
Jan 25, 2008 (LBO) – Bank of Ceylon (BOC) has deployed international authentication services provider VeriSign’s hacking and identity theft countering security features in its online banking transactions in Sri Lanka. VeriSign’s Identity Protection Services (VIP) for BOC’s online banking customers will provide an extra layer of security through VeriSign’s multiple authentication scheme. The scheme […]