Author: lbostgadmin
Sri Lanka hopes to move to budget deficit of 4.0-pct of GDP
July 29, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is hoping to cut the budget deficit to 4.0 percent of gross domestic product and generate a 2.0 percent revenue surplus, Treasury Secretary P B Jayasundera said.Sri Lanka ran a 6.4 percent of gross domestic product overall deficit in the budget in 2012 and a 1.4 percent revenue […]
Personal Travel
July 28, 2013 (LBO) – Scooters are becoming more popular in Sri Lanka making up about a third of all two-wheelers sold in the country now, the agents for India’s Mahindra group said at the launch of new models.Sri Lankan citizens who could not afford a car were buying up to 24,000 two-wheelers a month […]
South Africa win to stay alive in Sri Lanka cricket series
PALLEKELE, July 26, 2013 (AFP) – David Miller and Lonwabo Tsotsobe played key roles as South Africa stunned hosts Sri Lanka by 56 runs in the third one-dayer in Pallekele on Friday to stay afloat in the five-match series.Miller plundered a robust 85 not out off 72 balls to steer South Africa to 223-7 after […]
Mobile Hit
WASHINGTON, July 27, 2013 (AFP) – With the shift to mobile Internet gaining pace, some of the big tech firms are adapting and others are not.“Its products are no longer cutting edge,” he said.“It has failed to introduce sufficiently innovative product updates and services frequently enough (or) expand its limited product range.” He added that […]
Detentions
JAKARTA, July 27, 2013 (AFP) – Police detained four Indonesians allegedly involved in arranging an Australian-bound refugee boat which sank earlier this week, killing at least 15 people, a local police official said Saturday.The four men were arrested on Wednesday and Thursday in two nearby cities after the boat sank off the southwestern coast of […]
Refinance
July 27, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Nations Trust Bank has signed up a 15 million dollar credit to lend to small and medium enterprises, especially those in former war zones and tsunami hit areas, the Asian Development Bank said. About 20 percent of the facility will target women borrowers. The loans will be given […]
‘s Asia Pacific chief Anoop Singh to retire
July 26, 2013 (LBO) – Anoop Singh, director of the International Monetary Fund’s Asia Pacific Department and one-time country representative of Sri Lanka is to retire. “Anoop’s departure will deprive the Fund of one its most distinguished staff members, and his friends of a hugely admired colleague,” IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said in a […]
Loans to eurozone businesses drop sharply: ECB
FRANKFURT, July 25, 2013 (AFP) – Loans to businesses in the debt-mired eurozone tumbled in June, the European Central Bank said Thursday, weakening a key component of any economic recovery. Private sector loans dropped 1.6 percent last month in a year-on-year comparison, the ECB said, after a 1.1 percent decline in May. Loans to households […]
Base Case
July 26, 2013 (LBO) – Chevron Lubricants Lanka Plc said profits in the June 2013 quarter rose 5.5 percent to 562 million rupees from a year earlier, despite falling revenues on lower raw material prices. The firm reported earnings of 4.69 per share in interim accounts filed with the Colombo Stock Exchange. In the six […]
Boat-people
SYDNEY, July 26, 2013 (AFP) – The United Nations on Friday said it was “troubled” by Australia’s decision to send asylum-seekers arriving by boat to Papua New Guinea given conditions there failed to adequately protect refugees. In it’s first assessment of the hardline policy announced a week ago by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, the United […]
Sri Lanka urban waste to be made into fertilizer: IWMI
July 26, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka-based International Water Management Institute (IWMI) said it is partnering with island’s environmental authority to turn urban waste, a major water pollutant into organic fertilizer. Sri Lanka’s urban waste has a high volume of moist organic matter which is not economical to burn and generate power, experts have said. […]
Sri Lanka Cinnamon Lakeside, revenues, profits down in June
July 26, 2013 (LBO) – Profits at Sri Lanka’s Trans Asia Hotels, owners of Colombo’s 5-star Cinnamon Lakeside fell 23 percent to 121.5 million rupees in the June 2013 quarter from a year earlier, interim accounts showed.The firm, a unit of John Keells Holdings, reported earnings of 61 cents per share for the quarter. Revenues […]