Author: LBO
Sri Lanka’s Jayasuriya announces retirement
Mar. 31 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s veteran opening batsman Sanath Jayasuriya Friday said he would retire from Test cricket after next week’s match against Pakistan. -Amal Jayasinghe: win98win@ “I thought about it long and hard and decided that’s it. It’s a very emotional moment, but I guess every good thing has to come to an […]
Long term debentures of Sri Lanka’s HNB earn A- domestic rating from Fitch
Mar. 30 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hatton National Bank’s Rs1.22 billion debenture issue, which closes Friday has been privately placed mostly among institutions, with longer tenures running up to 18 years being snapped up by insurance firms, an official said. Fitch Ratings Lanka Thursday assigned a rating of A- (sri) and a stable outlook, for […]
Sri Lanka’s top Nordic peace envoys to visit the island next week
Mar. 29 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Nordic peace envoys will visit the island next week for a series of meetings with the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels, the Norwegian embassy said Wednesday. New special envoy Jon Hanssen-Baur will make his maiden visit to the island on Monday April 3 for four-days. Hanssen-Baur, a Middle […]
Sri Lanka’s People’s Bank gets its credit rating upgraded to A-(sri)
Mar. 22 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run People’s Bank got its credit rating upgraded to A-(sri) by Fitch Ratings Lanka Ltd, who also revised the bank’s rating outlook to ‘positive’.An A-(sri) long term rating reflects low expectation of credit risk, but the bank is still vulnerable to changes in circumstances or in economic conditions than […]
Sri Lanka’s leisure industry recovers in February
Mar. 22 (LBO) — Sri Lanka’s tsunami-hit tourism industry continued to recover this year, with arrivals for the two months to February rising 40.2 percent to 104,918 visitors, the Tourist Board said Wednesday.The tropical island famed for its golden beaches, lush, tea-growing mountains and historic sites dating back 2,500 years, greeted 52,687 (up 43.8 percent) […]
It’s a curse
Mar. 19 (LBO) – A prominent parliamentarian representing the minority Tamil community had branded a controversial government decision to tax television programs imported for the entertainment of minority communities as discriminatory.“It is absurd and discriminatory,” said N Raviraj member for the Jaffna district representing the Tamil National Alliance. The government has decided to charge a […]
It’s Jinxed
Mar. 15 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s parliament is due to take up the Companies Act within the next two months, after a delay of nearly 13 years. The draft bill, first prepared by a New Zealand consultant in 1994, will replace the present Companies Act of 1982, said Chanaka de Silva, Senior Partner of Nithya […]
Sri Lanka’s balance of payments records US$100 mn surplus
Mar. 15 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s balance of payments (BOP) has recorded a US$100 million surplus for the two-months to February, the Central Bank said Wednesday as it stayed pat on interest rates for the third straight month. Please click here to read Central Bank’s monetary policy statement for March -Mel Gunasekera: mel@ The overnight […]
Sri Lanka’s Central Bank stays pat on interest rates
Mar. 15 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Wednesday left its policy rates at current levels for the third straight months, as it expects the 25-basis point hike last December to put the brakes on money supply growth.In a statement, the bank said it left its overnight repurchase rate at 8.75 percent and the reverse […]
Sri Lanka’s John Keells scouts new Maldivian property
Mar. 06 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s largest hotel operator, John Keells Holdings, is in the process of picking up another Maldivian resort to add to their growing hospitality chain, a top official said Monday. JKH, which is splashing billions of rupees to re-brand key properties, has been scouting for a new Maldivian property to replace […]
Rising costs of electricity, firewood and milk tea fail to push Sri Lanka’s inflation
Feb. 18 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s annual inflation rate for February slipped to 10.3 percent from 11.1 percent in January, despite high costs of firewood, electricity and milk tea, the Census & Statistics Department said Tuesday. The government uses the 12-month moving average – as measured by the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) – to […]
Illiteracy, no jobs, high risk activities among South Asia’s young could stifle progress
Illiteracy, no jobs and high risk behaviour among South Asia’s young people could affect the region’s progress and development, the World Bank says. About 20 percent of South Asia’s population is between 15 and 24, 30 percent are illiterate and they account for half of the unemployed in the region. The World Bank is meeting […]