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Double Talk
August 22, 2007 (LBO) – Hutchison Telecom’s Sri Lanka celco has doubled operating profits in the first half of 2007 and doubled subscribers in the past year, the global telecom giant said. Hutchison Telecom Lanka, the Sri Lankan mobile operations unit of Hutchison Telecom, has saw operating profits double to 31 million Hong Kong dollars […]
Young Japanese losing interest in cars, booze
TOKYO, Aug 22, 2007 (AFP) – Young Japanese are rapidly losing interest in cars and drinking and choosing instead to save their money, a survey said Wednesday. Japan is in the midst of its longest expansion in the post-World War II era, but private consumption has been stagnant. Young people in the world’s second-largest economy, […]
Money printing Zimbabwe eases price controls after shortages
HARARE, Aug 22, 2007 (AFP) – Zimbabwe’s government has authorised retailers to raise the prices of basic goods in order to ease widespread shortages which followed the imposition of price cuts, state media reported Wednesday. Shops and businesses which were ordered to slash their prices two months as part of a controversial crackdown on so-called […]
Sri Lanka credit crunch drives rates up, foreign names sell bonds
August 21, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank eased access to its discount window with overnight rupee rates hitting 40 percent, while the spot dollar hit an intra-day high of 112.10 rupees Tuesday, dealers said. Interbank money markets are facing liquidity shortages stemming from an outflow of foreign exchange. The monetary authority has been […]
Sri Lanka interbank rates touch 40%
August 21, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s interbank rates touched 40 percent in early trade Tuesday after the market ran out of liquidity amidst pressure on the currency, dealers said. However a fresh inflow of foreign capital can reduce pressure. The overnight call rate, where banks borrow from each other without collateral in the interbank […]
Guiding Hand
August 21, 2007 Sri Lanka should guide youth to build skills and be more responsive by better awareness of demand conditions, organizers of a national exhibition aimed at matching skills with market needs have said.“We have to create a climate of lifelong learning and provide credible guidance.” “There is a greater responsibility cast on all […]
Military Law
August 21, 2007 (LBO) – Military officers from Sri Lanka and the United States, two countries faced with tough suicide terrorist wars, discussed human rights and justice in counter-terrorism operations at a meeting in Colombo last week, the U.S. embassy said Tuesday. The three-day meeting, hosted by the U.S. Pacific Command, in partnership with the […]
Undersea Link
August 21, 2007 (LBO) – Indian telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) is to increase charges on a submarine cable link with Sri Lanka Telecom that carries voice and data traffic between the two countries. It has also demanded the Indian government withdraw the new service tax and educational tax at 12.5 per cent […]
Nissan to put fuel efficiency gauge in all new models
TOKYO, Aug 21, 2007 (AFP) – Japan’s Nissan Motor Co.announced Tuesday plans to install a fuel efficiency gauge in all future new models in its latest effort to tap growing interest in energy-saving motoring. Nissan said that based on its own tests it estimates the gauge could cut fuel consumption by an average 10 percent […]
Sri Lanka central bank defends John Exter and itself against tide of criticism
August 21, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank law, devised by an international economist famed for his monetary prudence, has in-built safeguards to protect the economy unless it was abused, a top central banker said. Central Bank Deputy Governor W A Wijewardene defended the bank’s founder John Exter against a rising tide of criticism […]