Author: lbostgadmin
Alarm Call
April 10, 2009 (LBO) – Dialog Telekom, Sri Lanka’s top celco, has said short-term gains to consumers like lower mobile call rates from intense competition should not be allowed to erode the industry’s long term sustainability. “I feel the entry of new operators is always good for the consumer. It brings out the best in […]
Sri Lanka hikes tax on edible oil imports
April 10, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government has raised the import cess on palm oil to 60 rupees per kilo from 40 rupees, Coconut Cultivation Board officials said. The move is aimed at ensuring a better price for coconut growers, mostly small farmers, and to reduce imports of edible oils, mainly palm oil, […]
Sea Crew
April 10, 2009 (LBO) – Belgium will recognize seafarer certificates issued by Sri Lanka allowing seamen from the island to serve aboard Belgian flagged vessels under a deal between the two countries, a government minister said.The merchant shipping division of Sri Lanka’s ministry of ports and aviation had signed a memorandum of understanding with the […]
Sri Lanka eyes diaspora funds to revive war zone
April 10, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has said it plans to entice the Tamil diaspora to invest in reviving the war-ravaged north and has set up a separate division to oversee all rehabilitation activities. “The institutional impediments to commencing productive activities in all sectors of the province will also be addressed gradually.” The government […]
Rights group slams Sri Lanka over murder probe
April 9, 2009 (AFP) – An international media rights group said Thursday there was a “lack of political will” in Sri Lanka to identify the killers of an anti-establishment newspaper editor. The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders accused Sri Lankan authorities of dragging out the probe into the murder of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunga, who […]
Sri Lanka Tigers threat to Gandhis on poll trail: report
NEW DELHI, April 9, 2009 (AFP) – Indian security officials have warned that the ruling party’s leader and her family could be targeted by Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers ahead of this month’s national polls, a report said.Her son, federal MP and Congress general secretary Rahul, was slated to address rallies in southern India over the […]
Sri Lanka raises turnover tax
April 08, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is tripling a newly introduced non-recoverable business turnover tax from May 01, 2009 as the country grapples with a currency crisis, and state revenues fall with a slowing economy. Profligate fiscal policies followed since 2004 have now landed the island in a currency crisis and made it ill-prepared […]
Sri Lanka state finances busted, Rs118bn printed
April 08, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government finances had been busted in 2008 with revenues 95 billion rupees below target, 118 billion rupees being printed by the central bank, while foreign financing turned negative, the latest official data show. In recent years it has become the practice in Sri Lanka to present fairy tale […]
Sri Lanka Central Bank lifts vehicle import curbs
April 08, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said it has lifted the 100 percent margin deposit requirement against Letters of Credit for selected categories of vehicle imports from Wednesday. The government is now negotiating with the International Monetary Fund on a bail-out package. The margin was imposed as a monetary policy measure in […]
Sri Lanka tries to salvage tanker leaking acid
April 08, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s navy said it has rescued the crew of a tanker in distress off the east coast and towed the vessel into deep seas to prevent pollution from its cargo of sulphuric acid.MT Granba, flying the flag of Turkey, was abandoned by her crew off the eastern port of […]
Merchant Cover
April 08, 2009 (LBO) – The Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka (MBSL) said it has bought full ownership of ABC Insurance Company under a share transfer agreement entered with the shareholders of the company.The insurance firm is part of Sri Lanka’a ABC group which has a strong presence in the shipping industry. MBSL, which is […]
Cash Call
April 08, 2009 (LBO) – HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank, said it had completed its 12.5-billion-pound rights issue with the sale of the remaining 3.4 percent of shares not taken up by existing shareholders, AFP news agency reported. The British banking giant said Sunday it had a 96.6 percent take-up of the record rights issue, which […]