Sri Lanka Treasuries flat

Feb 01, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Treasuries yields remained flat across maturities for the sixth week at Wednesday’s auction with 9,751 million rupees of bills being sold, the state debt office said. The 3-month yield edged up one basis point to 8.68 percent with 4.6 billion rupees of bills sold and the 6-month month […]

Sri Lanka central bank clarifies IMF interest rates

Jan 31, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said it would only have to pay a higher interest rate for International Monetary Fund loans exceeding 300 percent of the country quota, and lower balances would only attract a rate of a little over 1.0 percent. The IMF has effectively suspended its 2.6 billion US […]

Sri Lanka January inflation slows to 3.8-pct

Jan 31, 2012 (LBO) – Consumer prices in Sri Lanka’s capital rose 3.8 percent in January 2012 from a year earlier, slowing from 4.9 percent in December 2011, the state statistics office said. Prices measured by the Colombo Consumer Price Index rose 0.3 percent in January 2012 after rising 1.2 percent during December 2011. Annual […]

Sri Lanka testing new tea plants

Jan 31, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is testing new varieties of tea that have better ability to tolerate drought and disease, the head of the island’s tea research outfit said. Gerry Jayawardena, chairman of the Tea Research Institute, said the new types of tea plants were needed given changes in climate and consumer preferences […]

Sri Lanka lifts ban on tea estates harvesting timber

Jan 31, 2012 (LBO) – A Sri Lanka state decision to allow commercial timber to be harvested will increase the supply of fuel wood for use in tea driers helping cut production costs, an industry body representing private managers said. “We are confident this decision by the government will benefit not only the estate sector […]

Sri Lanka war torn irrigation works get IFAD boost

Jan 31, 2012 (LBO) – The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) said it is giving a 22 million dollar loan to Sri Lanka to rebuilt irrigation works, which will help 7,000 farmer families in former war-torn areas. The money will be used to improve downstream irrigation infrastructure of the Iranamadu reservoir in Kilinocchi in […]

Scanned Access

Jan 31, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Ports Authority plans to install bar code readers at Colombo port to speed up the movement of vehicles moving containers, a senior official said. Truckers have complained of lengthy waiting times of sometimes 6-8 hours to get in or out of the port. The existing gate pass system […]

Sri Lanka shares end down 1.1-pct

Jan 31, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed weaker Tuesday after rising sharply at the opening, as profit-taking came in with turnover also slumping, , brokers said. The main All Share Price Index closed down 1.12 percent (64.22 points) at 5,691.34, while the more liquid Milanka index fell 1.02 percent (50.94 points) to close […]

Sri Lanka may not need IMF money: economic minister

Jan 30, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka may not need the remaining 800 million dollars of International Monetary Fund money since reserves are still high, economic development minister Basil Rajapaksa said. “When we borrow the money it goes into monetary reserves and they have to be invested in another country, for a small difference in […]

US fast food co Quiznos plans to open 150 outlets in India

NEW DELHI, Jan 30 (Asia Pulse) – American quick service restaurant brand QUIZNOS is expanding in India with plans to set up around 150 outlets in the northern and western regions of the country in the next five years. Quiznos, which has entered into a master franchise agreement with Delhi-based restaurant management company Sub-one Hospitality […]

Sri Lanka tea industry poverty still high: FAO

Jan 30, 2012 (LBO) – Poverty levels in Sri Lanka’s tea industry are still too high and need to be addressed as a matter of priority, a senior official of the Food and Agriculture Organisation said. The FAO is also involved in the island’s tea industry and is supporting the National Institute of Plantations Managements […]

Lease Business

Jan 30, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Citizens Development Business Finance Plc, a registered leasing firm, said profits fell 25 percent in the December 2011 quarter to 157 million rupees from a year earlier, mainly due to lower non-fund based income. Net assets rose from 1.0 billion rupees to 2.06 billion rupees from March to […]

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