Sri Lanka May 2009 clothing exports fall, tea shipments up

July 13, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s May 2009 export earnings fell 27.8 percent to 538.5 million US dollars from year ago, mainly because of lower clothing exports, although tea exports went up, the Central Bank said. Imports of consumer goods fell by 41.2 percent to 140 million US dollars, largely on account of lower […]

‘s next outsourcing boom: comedy

MUMBAI, July 13, 2009 (AFP) – In 1979, Don Ward opened a small club in London to provide a stage for the best of Britain’s undiscovered comic talent.After 30 successful years, he now wants to do the same in India. Ward is taking The Comedy Store out of Britain for the first time, opening a […]

Outsourcing

July 13, 2009 (LBO) – India’s Quatrro BPO Solutions said it is considering moving more business process outsourcing work to Sri Lanka and that productivity concerns raised by its chairman Raman Roy were limited to certain processes.“We are in active discussions to move more processes to Sri Lanka and Quatrro continues to be a strong […]

Best Bank

July 13, 2009 (LBO) – HSBC said it had been named the ‘Best Global Bank, by Euromoney magazine, in its 2009 awards.It also won the Best Global Debt House and Best Global Transaction Banking House, awards. Michael Geoghegan, group chief executive of HSBC said in a statement that winning award during the turmoil was not […]

Northern Loan

July 13, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank is giving three billion rupees to several banks to lend to small and micro businesses in agriculture and fisheries and in the war-torn north of the island. Following the end of fighting with Tamil Tiger separatists in May, Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu have been largely depopulated and […]

Shipping Forum

July 13, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to host a meeting of Asian shippers in Colombo, a conference made possible after 15 years of lobbying because of the end of the ethnic war, the Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council (SLSC) said. The meeting is expected discuss policy issues, maritime security, shipping costs like terminal handling […]

Sri Lankan shares close up 0.24-pct

July 13, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed up Monday as retailers cautiously re-entered the market focusing on selected hotel and banking stocks, while institutional and high net-worth individual investors stayed away, brokers said. The All Share Price Index rose 0.24 percent (5.78 points) to end at 2,368.87 while the Milanka index of more […]

Sri Lanka bonds volatile after rate freeze

July 13, 2009 (LBO) – Three year bond yields edged up slightly Monday as the central bank froze its policy rate at 11.00 percent, but fell back in late trading dealers said, while yields at an auction also stayed steady. The government’s debt office which is a unit of the central bank said it sold […]

‘s foreign reserves up in May

July 13, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s gross foreign reserves, without an advance to domestic banks, rose to 1,291 million US dollars in May 2009 from 1,131 million US dollars in April, the latest official data showed.With a 145 million US dollar deposit at a domestic bank, gross monetary and fiscal reserves went up to […]

Sri Lanka creates new top military posts: official

July 12, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Sunday named its first ever chief of defence staff and created the post of national security adviser to the president as part of an overhaul of the military.President Mahinda Rajapakse’s office said army chief General Sarath Fonseka would take over as Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) from […]

Australia intercepts boat with 73 Sri Lankans: report

July 12, 2009 (LBO) – Australia has intercepted a boat with 73 Sri Lankan asylum seekers who have now been transferred to a detention centre in Christmas Island, a media report said. Authorities were now trying to find out why they made the voyage, the report said.The Age newspaper said many women and children were […]

Sri Lanka power output, diesel sales down in April

July 12, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s electricity generation in April 2009 fell 2.2 percent to 773 million units (GigaWatt hours) from a year earlier, while diesel sales were down 10.7 percent, the latest government figures showed. Sri Lanka’s economic growth slowed to 1.5 percent in the first quarter of 2009 from 6.2 a year […]

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