All Blogs
Desperate Plea
Pramuka Banks depositors association on Monday appealed to President Chandrika Kumaratunga to intervene and re-open the failed bank.Members walked up to the Presidents House to hand over the letter but were unsuccessful as the President was not in.rn rnPresident of the association Palitha Gamage says the Central Bank should take full responsibility for the failure […]
Funding The Old
The government will shortly send a call out for a chief executive officer to head a newly created office on Pension Reforms.Spearheaded by the Superannuation Reforms Taskforce under the Financial Sector Reforms Committee, the new pensions office will suggests methods to steer the reform programme through.rn rnThe mandate covers an entire gamut of reforms including […]
Long-Term Borrowings
The government is planning to issue its first long term bonds next month on the back of low risk interest rates.A ten-year government bond will be auctioned early next month in a move that will almost double the length of the government risk free yield curve.rn rnThe public debt department of the Central Bank is […]
Lending Long-term
The Central Bank plans to issue a 10-year bond issue in January, as part of its efforts to build a long-term yield curve.Officials from the banks Public Debt Dept.said around Rs. 1 bn will be offered at the initial issue.rn rnThe bond is likely to carry a coupon of about 10 percent, though market players […]
SET marries BoC ATMs
Sampath and Bank of Ceylon signed a memorandum of understanding to link their automatic teller machines locallyThe deal will create a combined network of more that 150 machines, which almost doubles the amount of ATMs that customers in each bank, can now access.rn rnThough customers of banks that use the Cirrus network, part of the […]
Low Cost Loans
Government has put up Rs. 3 billion to provide low cost housing loans in a bid to raise the levels of house ownership in the country.Specialized housing banks like HDFC and the NDB Housing Bank will lend the government funds.rn rnHousing loans will carry a 10.5 percent annual interest to the end customer. The scheme, […]
No System Risk
Officials say the collapse of Pramuka Bank will not pose a systemic risk to the financial sector, as most commercial banks did not have links with the failed bank.Finance Minister K. N. Choksy told LBR on Tuesday (17 Dec.) that the financial system could withstand the effects of Pramuka Banks liquidation.rn rnAs Pramuka was the […]
Little Solace
Depositors of the collapsed Pramuka Savings & Development Bank are likely to get a third of their money back once the liquidation process starts to roll in.Smalltime depositors who had invested up to Rs. 50,000 are likely to get most of their capital back. But for others who invested millions, their capital is likely to […]
Tour De Farce
The future of the tourism industry hangs loose as travel associations squabble over as to that should represent the industry.Some in the trade have already made representations to the government challenging the status of the newly established Tourism and Travel association.rn rnThe association formed with government patronage was thought to comprise both the travel agents […]
Courting The Beauty
Talk about beauty culture and you think of stuff like hair dos and make up. That is pretty much all that most salons in the city offer anyway.But a few are breaking this convention, giving some really wild and wacky offerings.They are also managing to draw in a whole new set of clients who are […]