Author: lbostgadmin
Sri Lanka bond gets US$6.8bn bids from 269 investors
Oct, 16, 2009 (LBO) – A 500 million US dollar sovereign bond by Sri Lanka has drawn 6.8 billion US dollars in bids from 269 buyers pushing yields lower than expected on strong country prospects and high demand. Fund managers got 78 percent of the bonds, banks 8 percent, retail 7 percent, 4 percent to […]
Sri Lanka leader takes aim at international lenders
October 15, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president on Thursday accused international financial institutions of placing too heavy a burden on developing nations by demanding they slash subsidies in exchange for help. President Mahinda Rajapakse told a meeting of the 31-member Asian Cooperation Dialogue in Colombo that elimination of poverty in developing nations “should not […]
””: S&P
Oct 15, 2009 (LBO) – Standard & Poor’s has lifted the outlook on Sri Lanka’s ‘B’ sovereign rating to ‘positive’ from ‘stable’ expecting that a program with the International Monetary Fund would be completed, the rating agency said. “The swift recovery in Sri Lanka’s foreign currency reserves is propelled by both fundamental and market factors,” […]
Sri Lanka unable to stop migrant outflow: minister
October 15, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Thursday it was unable to prevent migrants leaving the country, as Indonesia intercepted a boatload of asylum seekers from the island heading for Australia.Media minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa said the government could not “stop people from getting into a boat and seeking greener pastures in another country”. […]
Obama holds new war cabinet talks on Afghanistan
WASHINGTON, October 15, 2009 (AFP) – US President Barack Obama huddled with his war council Wednesday for the fifth time, debating whether to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan to quell a growing conflict.Obama is to unveil a new strategy within weeks to contain an insurgency violence fueled by Al-Qaeda militants and the Taliban, which […]
Indian car exports surge 36-pct in H1 of 2009-10
NEW DELHI, Oct 14 Asia Pulse – Indian car exports in the first half of this fiscal year jumped by 35.73 per cent as major makers like Hyundai Motor and Maruti Suzuki cashed in on Europe giving incentives on buying new cars in exchange for old ones. This is despite other segments of the auto […]
Sri Lanka plantations real wage rates stagnant for years
Octo 15, 2009 (LBO) – Real wage rates earned by Sri Lanka’s plantations workers had been virtually stagnant for years, according to a report by a think tank.The Institute of Policy Studies said in a report on the state of the economy that poverty levels of plantations workers were also high, although there had been […]
Sri Lanka east coast to get new hotels
Oct 15, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority has approved the construction of new hotels on a prime beach property on the island’s east coast following the end of the war, a senior official said. Sri Lanka aims to attract 2.5 million tourists by 2016 following the end of the war. The […]
Takeover
Oct 15, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s People’s Merchant Bank (PMB), an investment bank which is 39 percent owned by state-run People’s Bank, said it will acquire a finance company license by taking over a subsidiary.PMB said in a stock exchange filing that it has decided to take over the assets and liabilities of its […]
Sri Lanka sovereign bond may yield 7.75-pct: report
Oct 15, 2009 (LBO) – A 500 million US dollar denominated bond maturing in 2015 now being sold by Sri Lanka may yield about 7.75 percent a year, lower than Sri Lanka’s first sovereign bond issued in 2007, a media report said. Foreign reserves have topped 4.4 billion US dollars from a low of around […]
Dollar weakens, gold, oil, Euro soars
NEW YORK, October 13, 2009 (AFP) – The dollar faced more headwinds Tuesday and the euro leapt to a new 2009 high on the greenback, as rising economic confidence whetted investors’ appetite for the riskier assets. The euro earlier in the day fell as low as 1.4762 dollars after publication of Germany’s ZEW survey which […]
Sri Lanka asylum-seekers threaten to torch boat
BANTEN, October 14, 2009 (AFP) – More than 250 Sri Lankans seeking asylum in Australia have threatened to set fire to their boat if they are forced to disembark in Indonesia, an official said Wednesday.The Indonesian navy intercepted the boat with 255 men, women and children on board in the Sunda Strait and towed it […]