Author: lbostgadmin
Sri Lanka state to recruit 17,000 unemployable graduates
Nov 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government is to recruit 17,000 graduates from state universities unemployable in productive sectors, expanding an already bloated public sector, ahead of planned national polls due early next year.Graduates from state universities, who are educated at the expense of the people through general taxes, have successfully cultivated a perception […]
‘s central bank battles inflation expectations
Nov 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank is in a battle to dampen high public inflation expectations after capping price rises in the island’s capital Colombo to low single digits for more than a year.In 2009 the Central Bank is hoping to end the year with inflation at 3.5 percent after seeing only […]
” for Australian ship to stay
JAKARTA, November 11, 2009 (AFP) – Indonesia has “no problems” with extending permission for an Australian customs ship loaded with 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers to stay in the country, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.Indonesia will look at any request by Australia to extend the stay of the Oceanic Viking, which is anchored off Bintan […]
Myanmar dissidents condemn S.Lanka over junta visit
November 11, 2009 (AFP) – Dissident Myanmar monks living in Colombo on Wednesday criticised the Sri Lankan government for inviting junta leader General Than Shwe for a state visit. The monks said Sri Lanka’s increasingly close relations with Myanmar’s military regime would further raise international concern over the island’s human rights record. They said President […]
South Asian inflation risk from money printing: economist
WASHINGTON, November 11, 2009 (AFP) – Rising inflation is posing a threat to South Asia, with the situation most worrying in the Maldives where a foreign currency black market has emerged, a senior World Bank economist has warned.Noting that the median inflation rate in South Asia was more than twice that of Latin America and […]
Turnaround Signs
Nov 11, 2009 (LBO) – Dialog Telekom, a unit of Malaysia’s Axiata, said it lost 439 million rupees in the September quarter, a higher loss than a year ago, but that its performance was improving. The group, the island’s top celco, said in a statement sales fell 4.6 percent to 8.9 billion rupees in the […]
Kiwi View
WELLINGTON, November 11, 2009 (AFP) – New Zealand does not want to offer a new home to a group of Sri Lankan asylum seekers involved in a stand-off with Australian authorities, the government said. Coleman confirmed there had been informal talks with Australia over the fate of the Sri Lankans but said there was an […]
Sri Lanka 3-month Treasuries fall below repo rate
Nov 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s 3-month Treasuries yield fell below the repo rate of 8.00 percent at which the Central Bank drains cash from the banking system in a currency board-style free fall of interest rates amid excess liquidity and weak credit demand.The 3-month yield fell 41 basis points to 7.73 percent, the […]
Sri Lanka IMF country report released
Nov 10, 2009 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released country report and staff papers covering the background and economic analysis leading up to a stand by loan to the island in July.Sri Lanka’s economic management has improved in recent months with both inflation and interest rates coming down, but external borrowings have […]
Sri Lanka agriculture, fishing revive in former war zone
Nov 10, 2009 (LBO) – Farmers and fishermen have been among the main borrowers under a Sri Lankan government loan scheme to revive economic activity in the former northern war zone, the Central Bank said. It said in a statement that a total of 1,875 loans valued at 264 million rupees has been disbursed under […]
Sri Lanka at “moderate risk” of external debt distress: IMF
Nov 10, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has a “moderate risk” of external debt distress over the 2009-14 period, an International Monetary Fund staff analysis has said. “All debt indicators are projected to remain below indicative thresholds under the program baseline scenario,” the IMF said. “This conclusion rests heavily on the satisfactory implementation of the […]
Sri Lanka trade unions reject government pay hike
Nov 10, 2009 (LBO) – Labour unions in several key state-owned utilities have rejected a government offer of a pay hike and said they would start a ‘work-to-rule’ from Wednesday that could slowdown economic activity. The joint trade unions of state refiner, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), National Water Board, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and port […]