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Shares prices close flat; rupee steadies against the U.S. dollar
July 4, 2006 (LBO) – Shares prices in Colombo closed flat Tuesday on lackluster trade awhile the Sri Lankan rupee gained marginally against the dollar, dealers said. The wider All Share Price Index crept up 0.01 percent or 0.22 points to 2,113.15 on volumes of 6.7 million shares worth 141.42 million rupees. Among the gainers […]
Sri Lanka steps up alert as Tigers honours suicide bombers
July 4, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka stepped up already tight security Tuesday as Tamil Tiger rebels prepared to celebrate “Black Tiger Day” honouring the 261 men and women who have staged suicide bombings, officials said.The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) arranged Hindu religious services across the territory under their control to mark Wednesday’s […]
‘s budget deficit expands to 3.2% by end April
July 4, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s budget deficit for the four months to April rose to 3.2 percent of GDP from 2.9 percent of GDP a year before as the government spent more on capital expenditure and salary increments for civil servants and subsidies, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday. The government raised about 100 […]
‘s war refugees
July 4, 2006 (AFP) – The European Union Tuesday announced seven million euros (8.9 million dollars) in aid for some 400,000 people displaced by the drawn-out separatist conflict in Sri Lanka since 1972.The money, channeled through 20 local and international relief agencies, will go to refugees mainly in the island’s embattled northern and eastern regions, […]
Sri Lanka’s Central Bank governor wants to keep rates steady
July 3, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka does not need to raise interest rates despite galloping inflation and negative real interest rates, the island’s newly appointed Central Bank governor said Tuesday.The country’s annual inflation rate shot up to 17.7 percent, data showed last Friday, underlining the need for a rate hike. Sri Lanka’s treasury bill […]
Sri Lanka’s new Central Bank governor says he will protect its independence
July 3, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s newly appointed central bank governor says he will promote the independence of the institution, which has come under fire from independent economists in recent years for submitting to fiscal dominance and pushing up inflation. But some previous governors who held shares in financial institutions have sold out after […]
‘s Central Bank governor wants to keep rates steady
July 3, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka does not need to raise interest rates despite galloping inflation and negative real interest rates, the island’s newly appointed Central Bank governor said Tuesday.The country’s annual inflation rate shot up to 17.7 percent, data showed last Friday, underlining the need for a rate hike. Sri Lanka’s treasury bill […]
Big Slap
July 3, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Credit Information Bureau or CRIB has warned all banks to come clean and name large scale defaulters or risk paying a fine or prison term. Central Bank’s deputy governor Ranee Jayamaha says CRIB has warned errant banks to expect a fine of 50,000 rupees each for not disclosing […]
Choices: To appoint or advertise?
July 3, 2006 (LBO) – The Information and Communication Technology Act, No 27 of 2003, was a watershed for a number of reasons. It created a fully government owned company to implement a complex, cross-cutting policy initiative, the e Sri Lanka Initiative, initially funded at 53 million dollars by the World Bank.Government owned companies have […]
EU ban on Tigers a huge mistake: Sinn Fein leader
July 3, 2006 (AFP) – The chief negotiator for Northern Ireland’s main Roman Catholic party, Sinn Fein, was quoted by Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka as saying a European Union ban on the guerillas was a “huge mistake.” Martin McGuinness travelled to the rebel-held town of Kilinochchi for talks with the political leadership of the […]