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Sri Lanka central bank says narrow trade gap is good for rupee
Sept 19, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank says a recent fall of the rupee is not in line with a narrowing of the trade gap, as the rupee dipped to a new low Wednesday but closed firmer. The bank said exports have grown 15.8 percent and the trade gap had narrowed to 1,806 […]
Travel Services
Sept 19, 2007 (LBO) – Nations Trust Bank said Wednesday it remains the sole issuer of American Express credit cards and other travel services despite the sale of the latter’s international banking subsidiary to Standard Chartered PLC. American Express Company has announced that it has sold its subsidiary, American Express Bank Ltd. (AEB), to Standard […]
Global Cover
Sept 19, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankans traveling abroad can apply for international health insurance introduced by Aviva Insurance that will cover the cost of medical care abroad, officials said Wednesday. The insurance plans offered by Aviva’s local partner Eagle Insurance go up to two million dollars in annual coverage. They cover health costs whether […]
Sri Lanka tea firms brace for new wage demand
Sept 19 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s plantations companies face another crippling wage hike less than a year after giving one as politically powerful labour unions pressurize the government which needs their support to pass the forthcoming budget in parliament. Stock market analysts said another wage increase would increase pressure on listed regional plantations companies (RPCs), […]
Cartel Curbs
Sept 18, 2007 (LBO) – India’s Competition Commission is moving against an alliance of shipping lines which control most of the cargo shipped from south Asia, including Sri Lanka, to Europe but which shippers have accused of acting like a cartel. The India-Pakistan-Bangladesh-Ceylon Conference (IPBCC), one of the oldest shipping conferences in the world, controls […]
Telco Suit
Sept 19, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan fixed wireless operator Suntel, a unit of Sweden’s Telia, has said net profit for the first half ending June 2007 was up seven percent to 311 million rupees. Revenue rose to 3.6 billion rupees from 3.3 billion rupees in the first half of 2006 In a statement accompanying […]
Charges against Goldquest directors dropped
Sept 19, 2007 (LBO) – Prosecutors in the Philippines have dropped charges against Goldquest directors involved in an alleged investment scam, media reports from the country said. It later enacted anti-pyramiding legislation that outlawed multi-level marketing recruitment schemes. Bayani Vargas, Presiding Judge of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, has dropped a criminal charge against […]
Northern Rock set to return to normal as crisis subsides
LONDON, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) – Northern Rock customers finally appeared confident that they could leave their savings with the crisis-hit lender, with few, if any, expected to queue outside branches on Wednesday. Government pledges to protect the savings of the bank’s account-holders quelled the panic triggered by news that Northern Rock asked the Bank […]
Peru meteorite strike leaves 200 ill
LIMA, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) – About 200 villagers have fallen ill from mysterious gases that spewed from a crater after a meteorite crashed in southeastern Peru, but no radiation has been detected, officials and scientists said Tuesday. Scores of residents of the farming village of Carancas began vomiting and complaining of headaches and dizziness […]
Pakistan beat Australia by six wickets
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) – Captain Shoaib Malik and Misbah-ul Haq put on a century partnership as Pakistan stunned Australia by six wickets in the Twenty20 world championships here on Tuesday. The pair put on 119 off 78 balls for the unbroken fifth wicket to help their team recover from 46-4 and surpass Australia’s […]