Author: lbostgadmin
Sri Lanka cinnamon trade says malpractices giving bad name
July 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan cinnamon prices are on the rebound after last year’s crash, but exporters are calling for curbs on malpractices which they say could give the spice a bad name among buyers.Among the problems are cinnamon of inferior colour, inferior infilling in quills, and high moisture content. Trade experts said […]
Sri Lankan women farmers get US support
July 14, 2009 (LBO) – A US-funded loan scheme has helped Sri Lankan women farmers overcome capital shortages, droughts, and other calamities that threatened their financial security and survival of farms, a US embassy statement said. “These modernizations increase the availability of micro credit loans, allowing the Women™s Co-op to expand its membership and benefit […]
Sri Lanka hotel earnings growth seen subdued
July 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka expects more tourists this winter season with heightened interest in the destination after the war ended but hotel earnings are not likely to improve immediately, officials and analysts said.“We can’t definitely see a concrete increase in numbers right now but certainly there’s improved sentiment,” Tourist Hotels Association of […]
Forex Loss
July 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Nations Trust Bank, a unit of John Keells Holdings has lost 800 million rupees on a forex bet, but the bank had ended the June 2009 quarter with a 150 million rupees in the black with bond trading profits, its interim results showed.In the June quarter the bank […]
State Rating
July 14, 2009 (LBO) – Fitch Sri Lanka has confirmed the ‘AA(lka)’ rating of state-run Bank of Ceylon (BOC) with a ‘stable’ outlook but noted rising bad loans and higher exposure to the state sector.The agency has also confirmed the ‘AA-(lka)’ rating of the bank’s subordinated debentures, individual rating at ‘D/E’ and support rating at […]
Credit Movement
July 14, 2009 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka said it has confirmed Sanasa Development Bank’s (SDB) national long-term rating at ‘BB(lka)’ with a stable outlook.“SDB’s rating reflects its historically high levels of profitability and moderate asset quality,” the rating agency said in a statement. “The rating is constrained by the riskier nature of its client […]
Refugee Fund
July 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank said it has opened an account to receive contributions from the public for the welfare and resettlement of people displaced by the ethnic war.It said in a statement all contributions to the account, set up in response to public inquiries about making contributions, are exempted from […]
Sri Lankan stocks close flat
July 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed flat Tuesday as the absence of high net worth individuals, and institutional and foreign investors kept trade volumes low, brokers said. The benchmark Colombo All Share Price Index closed up 0.01 percent (0.24 points) to end at 2,369.11, while the Milanka index of liquid stocks lost […]
Sri Lanka policy rates unchanged in July: Central Bank
July 13, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s key reverse repo rate would be held at 11.00 percent while bank lending rates were moving steadily down in response to rate cuts, the Central Bank said in its July monetary policy review. Foreign hedge funds were putting money back into government securities. In May Sri Lanka’s military […]
Sri Lanka central bank warns of rising inflationary pressures
July 13, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank, which brought inflation down to 0.9 percent in June, warned of higher inflation raising the possibility that it may lag behind better performing dollar pegged peers in the region. Inflation fell to 0.9 percent in June, the lowest since February 2004, when consumer inflation in Sri […]
Sri Lanka regional economic disparities narrowing: Central Bank
July 13, 2009 (LBO) – Regional economic disparities in Sri Lanka declined further last year although the Western Province continued to dominate with 45.4 percent share in gross domestic product (GDP), the Central Bank said. Provinces with smaller GDP have grown faster but a few lag behind and need more support, it said in a […]
Enigmatic Pakistan bounce back in second Test
July 13, 2009 (AFP) – Debutant Fawad Alam scored an unbeaten century as Pakistan produced a remarkable turnaround to claw their way back in the second Test against Sri Lanka on Monday.The tourists, who were bowled out for 90 in their first innings, hit back to dismiss Sri Lanka for 240 and then cruised to […]