All Blogs
Magna Carta to go on sale in New York
NEW YORK, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) – A rare copy of the Magna Carta, a 13th century English document enshrining the rule of law, is to go on sale in New York in December, in one of the most important ever sales of a document.The royal charter, dated 1297 and bearing the seal of King […]
Maldives borrows US$30mn from HSBC
Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) – The Maldivian government has secured a 30 million dollar commercial loan from the global banking giant HSBC to rebuild harbours, a senior minister said Tuesday.The money will be used to repair jetties damaged by the December 2004 tsunami that cost the atoll nation nearly two thirds of gross domestic product […]
World Bank eyes more easy credit for developing nations: report
WASHINGTON, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) – For the first time in almost a decade the World Bank is set to make meaningful cuts in the interest rates it charges China, Brazil, Mexico and other big developing countries, The Wall Street Journal Europe reports Tuesday. Under a deal to increase assistance to poor nations, unnamed bank […]
Myanmar junta warns against more protests
YANGON, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) – Myanmar’s military regime warned its people Tuesday not to join a swelling nationwide protest movement that has escalated into the most potent threat to their hardline rule in nearly 20 years. Local government officials using loudspeakers rode trucks through central Yangon warning against new anti-junta protests, a day after […]
Maldives goes for a sovereign rating
September 25, 2007 (LBO) — The Indian Ocean Island of Maldives hopes to use its upcoming sovereign rating to help local firms raise cash in international markets, the atoll’s finance minister said. A sovereign or country rating serves as an indication of a nation’s ability to repay its debt and is a key requirement to […]
Sri Lanka violence leaves 16 more dead
COLOMBO, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) – Sixteen people were killed and 39 others injured as security forces clashed with Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka’s embattled north and east, the two sides reported Tuesday.More than 60,000 people have died since the LTTE launched a military campaign for an independent state for minority Tamils in 1972.Four […]
Sri Lanka media watchdog sounds alarm over moves for new clampdown
Sept 25, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Free Media Movement (FMM), a media rights watchdog, said Monday it was concerned over an alleged government move to ban reporting on arms purchases. “If such regulations are intended to be promulgated, FMM calls on the government to desist from such a regressive course of action forthwith.” The […]
Sri Lanka opposition renews warning on sovereign bond
Sept 24, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s opposition has renewed its warning that a planned sovereign bond has no parliamentary sanction and a future government made up of the current opposition will “cancel” the bond. The opposition United National Party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe had warned HSBC Bank, a joint lead manager of the bond deal, […]
Biometric Banking
Sept 24, 2007 (LBO) – ICICI Bank, India’s second-largest bank, is planning to demonstrate in Sri Lanka its smart card technology that helped create innovative products and take banking to rural India, even to illiterate farmers, a top official said. Chanda Kochhar, Deputy Managing Director of ICICI Bank, said its technology partner Financial Information Network […]
Cell Finance
Sept 24, 2007 (LBO) – International Finance Corporation, the private sector financing arm of the World Bank inked a 100 million financing deal Monday with Sri Lanka’s biggest mobile phone operator, Dialog Telekom.Washington-based IFC will lend 70 million dollars in debt, while the balance will be used to buy shares from Dialog’s parent company, Telekom […]