June 06, 2011 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka has upgraded Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation’s (SLIC) National Long-Term rating and National Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) rating to ‘AA(lka)’ from ‘AA-(lka)’ with stable outlooks. “The ratings reflect SLIC’s improved risk-based capital position over the last two years, benefited by the improved operating and macro-economic environment as well […]

Sri Lanka plantations industry in deal with unions on wages

June 06, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s regional plantations companies and estate labour unions have agreed to renew a two-year wage deal with a worker’s basic wage being raised to 380 rupees from 285 previously. Muthu Sivalingam, president of the Ceylon Workers Congress, the biggest union, told Vimasuma.com, our sister news website, that under the […]

Sri Lanka resort planned by Banyan Tree, drops management deal

June 06, 2011 (LBO) – Singapore-based Banyan Tree Holdings said it was ending the management of a third party property in Sri Lanka but would develop its own resort on a larger scale. The group owns a 79 percent stake in Beruwala Walk Inn, which operated the destroyed Hotel Swanee. It was earlier owned by […]

Sri Lanka shares end down 0.7-pct

June 06, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares ended lower Monday with trade dominated by the acquisition of a stake in Panasian Power, a mini hydro firm, by Emagewize, brokers said. The main All Share Price Index closed at 7,355.43, down 0.68 percent (50.59 points) while the more liquid Milanka index came down 0.26 percent […]

Sri Lanka central bank on sell side of peg

June 06, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has been on the sell side of its dollar peg for two months in a row, selling more than 250 million US dollars to maintain the exchange rate, official data show. In May the Central Bank sold 130. 15 million US dollars to forex markets on […]

Sri Lanka skipper Dilshan defies England

LONDON, June 4, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan led from the front with an unbeaten century as the tourists fought back against England on the second day of the second Test at Lord’s here Saturday. At stumps, Sri Lanka were 231 for one, 255 runs behind England’s first innings 486. Dilshan, who […]

Bangladesh paralysed by opposition strike

DHAKA, June 5, 2011 (AFP) – Thousands of riot police and elite paramilitary forces were deployed in the Bangladeshi capital Sunday after violence ahead of a nationwide strike to protest changes to the country’s electoral system. At least 12 buses were set on fire overnight and 40 people were arrested, police said, just hours before […]

Sri Lanka state fisheries firm lose Rs59mn

June 05, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Fisheries Corporation, a state enterprise that retails fish has lost 59 million rupees in 2010 and has to better manage assets such as cold stores and freezer trucks, a finance ministry report said. The firm had the challenge of playing a ‘market stabilizer’ role with a market […]

Sri Lanka under renewed pressure over war crimes

June 4, 2011 (AFP) – The United States said Saturday it remained “deeply concerned” about alleged Sri Lankan war crimes as it distanced itself from a junior US military officer who questioned the credibility of the accusations against the island. The US government, along with other Western nations, rejected an invitation to attend a seminar […]

Blanket Cover

June 4, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military tightened security ahead of the funeral Saturday of a protester killed while demonstrating against a controversial pensions bill earlier in the week, officials said. Authorities blocked large gatherings of mourners at the home of slain factory worker Roshen Ratnasekera, witnesses said, adding that troops had also shifted […]

Property Potential

June 04, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s John Keells Holdings is expanding its property business with the acquisition of a six-acre site in a suburb on a key road to the international airport north of the capital Colombo. The conglomerate said it wants to expand its land bank by acquiring sites with a “high development […]

June 03, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka spent 5. 5 billion US dollars in its military campaign which crushed Tamil Tiger separatists, far less than what foreign powers spent on their current wars, central bank governor Nivard Cabraal said. “It was a vital investment not an expenditure like what many people would think it is,” […]

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