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” not dramatic for global growth”: IMF
SAO PAULO, Aug 22, 2007 (AFP) – Financial markets turbulence probably will curb global economic growth slightly this year, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Rodrigo Rato, said Wednesday.“It would not be surprising if (the turmoil) had a certain impact on growth, more intense in certain countries than in others,” Rato said at […]
Black Line
August 23, 2007 (LBO) – Lanka IOC, a unit of the Indian Oil Corporation, has returned to profitability in the June quarter, posting 490 million rupees in profits, interim results filed with the Colombo Stock Exchange showed. . The firm reversed a loss of 584 million in the same quarter last year. Part of the […]
Sri Lankan corporates form alliance to combat HIV/AIDS
Aug 23, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan companies have formed a business coalition on HIV/AIDS saying increasing awareness and gearing up workplaces to handle the pandemic helps reduce its financial and economic costs. “HIV affects the most productive segment of the society. We need to promote a coordinated, standardised HIV workplace program approach,” Jaspal Bindra, […]
Sri Lanka Treasury bill yields up; rupee eases to new low
August 22, 2007 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka rupee slipped to a new life low and three month treasury bill yields edged up 10 basis point to 17.55 percent Wednesday as the Central Bank stayed off the primary market, dealers said. Authorities have also been using heavy moral suasion to stop dealers from buying dollars […]
Sri Lanka central bank opens discount window to primary dealers
August 22, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank opened its discount window to primary dealers allowing them to get overnight cash after overnight rates hit 49 percent in early trade Wednesday, dealers said.The monetary authority had cut primary dealers off the window earlier in a bid to stop arbitrage on rates with an artificially […]
Sri Lanka Tata Tea unit reports lower June quarter profits
August 22, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Watawala Plantations plc, a unit of India’s Tata Teas, said net profit for the quarter ended June 2007 fell 24 percent to 35 million rupees compared with last year. Revenue rose to 917 million rupees from 802 million the year before, according to interim results released by the […]
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 […]