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Sri Lanka will not depend on aid: president
May 16, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president vowed on Wednesday not to depend on foreign aid after Britain said it would suspend debt relief to its former colony until Colombo improves its human rights record. President Mahinda Rajapakse said he would accept “genuine aid,” but will not depend on it, his office quoted him […]
Sri Lanka appoints new minister for ports and aviation
May 16, 2007 (LBO) — Sri Lanka Wednesday appointed Chamal Rajapakse, brother of President Mahinda Rajapakse, as the new minister of ports and aviation filling a post held by sacked minister Mangala Samaraweera, officials said.President Rajapakse had sworn in the new minister early Wednesday, prior to meeting the heads of newspaper editors at his heavily […]
‘s balance of payments
COLOMBO, May 16, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka recorded a trade deficit of 659.5 million dollars in the first quarter, but foreign remittances pushed the overall balance of payments into positive territory, the central bank said Wednesday.Sri Lanka’s exports in the first three months of 2007 earned 1.71 billion dollars while imports cost 2.37 billion […]
Connections
May 15, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Road Development Authority (RDA) is considering building an elevated or underground road to connect the fast growing Malabe suburb with Colombo city. It has extensive experience in building highways and bridges, and their maintenance, and has won contracts in India, the Philippines, and Australia. Road Development Authority (RDA) […]
Insurance Cover
May 15, 2007 (LBO) – HNB Assurance net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2007 rose seven percent to 12.9 million rupees, according to provisional results released to the Colombo Stock Exchange. Total revenue rose 24 percent to 269.7 million rupees while Gross Written Premium rose 24 percent to 324 million rupees and […]
New Player
May 15, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment Tuesday said it had given approval for India’s largest publicly-listed telecom firm, Bharti Airtel, to be the island’s fifth mobile phone operator with an investment of 150 million dollars. Airtel is subsidiary of Bharti Enterprises which has interests in telecom services, equipment manufacture and export, […]
High Status
May 15, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) said Tuesday it has received BOI status from the Board of Investment that would enable it to import and buy locally project-related items free of customs duty. However, the company would not be exempt from income tax like other firms with BOI tax concessions. SLT Chief […]
‘s future today
WASHINGTON, May 14, 2007 (AFP) – The World Bank executive board will decide on Tuesday whether bank president Paul Wolfowitz can continue to lead the institution, the bank said in a statement on Monday. A special bank committee “recommends the Executive Directors to consider whether Mr.Wolfowitz will be able to provide the leadership needed to […]
Sri Lanka seeks to diversify investment into agro, metal industries
May 15, 2007 (LBO) –Sri Lanka is keen on attracting investments in sectors such as agro and metal industries, the island’s minister of investment promotion, Sarath Amunugama, said Tuesday. He was speaking at a function at the Board of Investment where some 600 million dollars worth of investment deals were signed with local and foreign […]
Good Quarter
May 14, 2007 (LBO) – PABC Bank net profit for the first quarter of 2007 shot up 91% to 45.4 million rupees from 23.7 million rupees in the same period the year before.Interest income in the January 1, 2007 to March 31, 2007 quarter rose to 387 million rupees from 271 million rupees last year, […]