Author: lbostgadmin
Sri Lanka army intimidates media over shooting: rights group
COLOMBO, August 18, 2013 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan media rights group on Sunday accused the military of intimidating journalists who reported a deadly army crackdown on villagers protesting at contaminated water supplies.Residents of Weliweriya, the village 20 kilometers (12 miles) northeast of Colombo, have also told Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Council of their fear […]
New contamination scare hits New Zealand dairy industry
WELLINGTON, August 19, 2013 (AFP) – A new contamination scare hit New Zealand’s multi-billion dollar dairy industry on Monday after it was revealed a milk product with excessive nitrate levels had been exported to China. Both New Zealand’s Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) and the company at the centre of the latest scare, Westlake Milk, […]
Credit Trend
Aug 19, 2013 (LBO) – Credit to the state spiked in June 2013 to 36.7 billion rupees, up from only 5.7 billion in May, crowding out loans to private citizens to 11.5 billion rupees from 18.3 billion a month earlier, official data showed. Central Bank credit to government fell to 233.2 billion rupees in June […]
Ship Building
Aug 19, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Colombo Dockyard Plc, a unit of Onomichi of Japan said profits fell 73 percent to 114 million rupees in the June 2013 quarter from a year earlier amid a drop in revenues. The firm reported profit of 572 million rupees from shipbuilding in the six months with 482 […]
”’ rating confirmed: Fitch
Aug 19, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s John Keells Holding’s ‘AAA(lka)’ rating has been confirmed by Fitch with a stable outlook, saying the group has cash reserves and low leverage. -Gross debt/EBITDA at holdco being sustained above 4.0x (FYE13: 0.86x) -Introduction of significant refinancing risk at holdco or group over the medium-term -Impaired business risk […]
Sri Lanka mulls listing dollar corporate bonds
Aug 19, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Securities and Exchange Commission is in talks with the central bank over permitting dollar denominated corporate bonds to be traded on the stock exchange, an official said. “We are talking to central bank to allow companies to issue dollar bonds,” SEC chairman Nalaka Godahewa told a forum organized […]
‘s Jaffna peninsula seeks more trade and investment
Aug 18, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s northern Jaffna peninsula, which has emerged from a 30-year civil war, has untapped potential for greater investment and trade officials said. “The area has a high cash flow where at least one member of the family or relations is living in overseas,” Aasim Mukthar , general manager of […]
‘s neo-Mercantilist forex controls draw skepticism
NEW DELHI, August 18, 2013 (AFP) – Indian policymakers are looking increasingly panicky as they battle the worst currency crisis in more than two decades, and more worryingly there is no sign their remedies are working.There have been no signs so far of domestic capital flight but analysts say the controls may have been tightened […]
The bond market, yields and risk: how they work
PARIS, August 18, 2013 (AFP) – The market for debt issued by governments is huge and global, and it provides benchmarks for interest rates across national economies, in addition to official central bank rates. The market is known as the sovereign debt market, or the fixed income market. This is because most government debt is […]
Indian PM rules out repeat of 1991 economic crisis
NEW DELHI, August 17, 2013 (AFP) – India’s premier ruled out Saturday any suggestion the country could suffer a repeat of its 1991 balance-of-payments crisis as it grapples with a plunging rupee and a huge trade gap.Singh added that he hoped for “fresh thinking” at the central bank when its new governor Raghuram Rajan takes […]
Wearable Computing
PARIS, August 17, 2013 (AFP) – South Korea’s Samsung Electronics will unveil its new Galaxy Gear “smartwatch” early next month, ahead of Apple’s iWatch, Bloomberg news and a fan site said Saturday.The Galaxy Gear, which will allow users to make calls, access email and even surf the Internet, will launch on September 4, said the […]
‘s sovereign rating: S&P
Aug 17, 2013 (LBO) – A low inflation level maintained by Sri Lanka’s central bank is likely to support its credit rating in the future, a senior sovereign credit analyst at Standard & Poor’s said. Sri Lanka’s inflation eased to 6.1 percent in the 12 months to July from after spiking to 9.8 percent in […]