Author: lbostgadmin
Fiscal Rates
Oct 31, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka finance ministry would issue a circular directing state banks to cut lending rates and there was a possibility of private banks being also directed to cut lending rates through the island’s monetary authority, a government minister said.Sri Lanka’s powerful president Mahinda Rajapaksa ordered state bank to cut lending […]
Sri Lanka rupee weakens against Euro helping exporters: Central Bank
Oct 30, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka rupee has weakened against the Euro and Sterling since November 2008 increasing the edge of exporters to Europe and helping offset a possible hit from lost trade concessions, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said.“It is our contention that Sri Lanka’s exporters’ competitiveness to the European Union had […]
Sri Lanka state workers receive billions in subsidized housing credits
Oct 30, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state workers have recieved billions of rupees of housing loans at rates as low as 4.0 percent while homeless ordinary citizens were forced pay high rates as fiscal deficits pushed interest up, it has been revealed. Under a presidential directive issued this week, state banks have been ordered […]
Sri Lanka inflation accelerates to 1.4-pct in October
Oct 30, 2009 (LBO) – Consumer prices in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo rose 1.4 percent in October 2009 from a year earlier, against 0.7 percent in September, the government’s statistics office said.Treasury pressure to print money between 2004 and 2006 and keep interest rates low pushed Sri Lanka’s inflation to above 20 percent and created […]
India inflation accelerates, paving way for rate hikes
NEW DELHI, October 29, 2009 (AFP) – India’s annual inflation rate has picked up pace, official data showed Thursday, setting the stage for higher interest rates in the months ahead.The wholesale inflation rate rose to 1.51 percent in the week to October 17 from 1.21 percent the previous week, according to the Wholesale Price Index, […]
No Accounts
Oct 30, 2009 (LBO) – Two directors of Alufab Limited, a Colombo listed company has been charged for not filing annual accounts since 2004, Sri Lanka’s Securities and Exchange Commission said.The firm had also been placed in the default board of the Colombo Stock Exchange for not filing accounts.SEC said charges had been filed in […]
Sri Lanka to import rice to buffer price spikes
Oct 30, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government, which is ideologically committed to domestic rice production, will import 50,000 metric tons of rice as a buffer against an ‘artificial shortfall’, a senior minister said. But analysts say because prices are kept high and fertilizer is subsidized through heavy government interventions, farmers have no incentive to […]
Sri Lankan stocks close flat, low activity
Oct 30, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka stocks closed flat Friday, with retail buyers awaiting positive news on earnings and political developments, while selected financial stocks took a beating, brokers said.The All Share Index closed at 2,976.93 points down 0.23 points while the Milanka Index of more liquid stocks closed down 0.34 percent (11.30 points) […]
Norway raises rates, first in Europe in crisis
OSLO, October 28, 2009 (AFP) – Norway on Wednesday became the first European country to raise interest rates this year in the global financial crisis, which it managed to overcome thanks to its huge oil revenues. The Norwegian central bank raised its key demand deposit rate by a quarter of a point to 1.50 percent, […]
Sri Lanka 2009 end inflation to be 3.5-pct: CB Governor
Oct 29, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s inflation would be 3.5 percent by end-2009 setting the stage for lower interest rates and higher growth as investor confidence in the economy was rising, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said. “We are having inflation of one percent and we intend to keep it that way,” Cabraal told […]
Boat People
SYDNEY, October 29, 2009 (AFP) – Australia told a group of rescued Sri Lankan asylum-seekers they could not choose their destination and refused to rule out using force after they refused to disembark in Indonesia. Foreign Minister Stephen Smith insisted the group of 78, currently on an Australian ship, would be processed in Indonesia under […]
Bailed
Oct 29, 2009 (LBO) – Chairman of Sri Lanka’s troubled Ceylinco group, Lalith Kotelawala was released on bail by the island’s Supreme Court after nine months after he was remanded over the collapse of an unregulated financial firm, a media report said.He had also undertaken to fully disclose his assets including Ceysands Hotel and any […]