Author: lbostgadmin
Bangladesh announces power sector deregulation
DHAKA, December 9, 2010 (AFP) – Bangladesh has announced a sweeping deregulation scheme for its power sector in a bid to ease the country’s crippling electricity shortages, a senior government official said. Foreign investors will now be allowed to set up power plants without winning a government contract and to sell on the national grid, […]
SpiceJet orders 15 Bombardier jetliners
MONTREAL, December 9, 2010 (AFP) – India’s SpiceJet has ordered 15 Bombardier Q400 NextGen regional aircraft valued at 446 million US dollars, the Canadian company announced Thursday. Gary Scott, president of Bombardier’s commercial aircraft division, said he expects India to buy up to 600 aircraft in the 20 to 149 seat category over the next […]
Inclusive Award
Dec 10, 2010 (LBO) – Dialog Axiata, Sri Lankan’s largest mobile firm, said a service which provides a virtual marketplace and delivers prices from key produce markets in the island has won a global award for mobile commerce. ‘Dialog Tradenet’ uses mobile text, voice and internet to deliver price information which is useful especially for […]
Sri Lanka tea exporters to pack in Iran
Dec 10, 2010 (LBO) – Iran, which restricts import of value-added teas, has offered to let Sri Lankan exporters pack and sell tea in the country under a preferential tariff quota scheme, the government said. Tea is Sri Lanka’s main export to Iran, the island’s sixth largest trading partner with total two-way trade between the […]
Sri Lanka tea prices, output at new highs
Dec 10, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production is expected to hit a new high this year, exceeding 320 million kilos despite recent shortfalls owing to bad weather, while prices are also at record levels, brokers said. The average tea price at the Colombo auctions up to end-November of 369.38 rupees a kilo was […]
Card Push
Dec 10, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank is pushing strongly into credit cards and is already on the third slot and is on track to top 100,000 cards early in 2011, with overall credit conditions also picking up, a top official said. At the moment Standard Chartered and HSBC are the two biggest […]
Finance Rating
Dec 10, 2010 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka has confirmed Central Finance Company’s (CF) National Long-term rating at ‘A+(lka)’ with a stable outlook, a statement said. CF’s net interest margins improved to 13 percent in H111 largely due to an overall reduction in cost of funds. The agency has also assigned an ‘A(lka)’ rating to […]
Small Business
Dec 10, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has been included in an Asian Development Bank scheme where it invests in a private equity fund to expand microfinance and small business lending, especially to poor people, a statement said. The ADB will provide up to 10 million US dollars for an equity stake in the ShoreCap […]
Hot Potato
December 10, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police arrested four people Friday, including a Pakistani national, after seizing 50 kilos (110 pounds) of high-grade heroin with a street value of one million dollars. The drugs were found packed in a container of potatoes in the port of Colombo, police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody said. Most drug […]
Sri Lanka stocks close down 0.2-pct
Dec 10, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks continued their slide Friday, ending down 0.20 percent with institutions staying out and the retail investors selling, brokers said. The All Share Price Index closed at 6,432.75, down 0.20 percent (13.02 points) while the Milanka index of liquid stocks dipped 0.44 percent (30.44 points) to close at […]
Sri Lanka labour unions kept pacified: CB governor
Dec 08, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan government efforts to prevent labour trouble in recent years despite tough economic conditions should be considered part of its effort to support the business community, central bank governor Nivard Cabraal said. “If we have good roads, that’s a relief. If we have employment, 24-hour electricity and coverage throughout […]
Sri Lanka to borrow USD760mn for roads from China
Dec 09, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will borrow 760 million US dollars from two state-banks in China to upgrade more than one thousand kilometres of roads in the island including key roads in former war-torn areas in the Northwest of the country, the government said. The government will borrow 500 million dollars from China […]