Author: lbostgadmin
Sri Lanka says EU diplomats may visit war-torn north
March 18, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Wednesday it would open up its war-torn north to international scrutiny, days after the UN said it suspected war crimes were being committed in the fight against Tamil rebels.A foreign ministry official said talks were under way to give a European Union fact-finding mission access to the […]
Indian government faces elections as economy dives
NEW DELHI, March 18, 2009 (AFP) – Nineteen-year-old Souraj Thapa has never heard of the global financial crisis, but he’s finding that his job chances are drying up. “I’ve been to three companies but they’re not hiring,” said Thapa, a delivery courier in the Indian capital whose previous company went out of business and who […]
Sri Lankan shares driven up by big banking deals
Mar 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed up Wednesday boosted by large sales of blue chip bank stocks believed to have been divested by Sri Lankan born fund manager, Raj Rajaratnam’s, New York-based Galleon Fund, brokers said. The All Share Price Index was up 0.40 percent (6.51 points) to end at 1,618.84 while […]
‘s foreign reserves fall to US$1.4bn in Jan 09
Mar 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s gross official reserves fell to 1,415 million US dollars from 1,753.4 million dollars in December 2008, which was enough to cover 1.3 months of imports, the Central Bank said. With Asian Clearing Union balances, reserves were 1,703 million US dollars. But imports were contracting sharply amid a global […]
Sri Lanka cuts policy rate, lifts import curbs
Mar 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has cut its de facto main signal policy rate that sets the ceiling on Interbank borrowing rates by 175 basis points to 14.75 percent, and also lifted margins on import letters of credit set late last year, the Central Bank said. The regulator has also eased curbs on […]
Disease risk in Sri Lanka war zone: Red Cross
March 17, 2009 (AFP) – Tens of thousands of people trapped by fighting in Sri Lanka’s north are facing serious risks of disease due to shortages of clean water and sanitation, the Red Cross said Tuesday.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the humanitarian situation was deteriorating fast as civilians still living in […]
Auditing Blues
Mar 17, 2009 (LBO) – A new Sri Lankan national audit bill expected to be presented for legislative approval shortly will grant the government’s chief audit officer and his department greater autonomy, officials said. It will increase the powers of the Auditor General’s (AG) Department to clean up government departments with weak internal controls that […]
State Support
Mar 17, 2009 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan state-run bank that has lent money to a controversial state airline will get a 400 million rupee injection from the Treasury which will strengthen its balance sheet, an official said. In 1993 the government injected 24.088 billion rupees into two state banks and in 1996 another 23.873 […]
Sri Lankan shares slide
Mar 17, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks continued to fall on low volumes Tuesday with investors sceptical of a quick recovery owing to concerns about the poor macro economic outlook and delays in ending the war, brokers said.“The high interest rates are still hurting investments in equity.That’s why the market volumes are still low,” […]
Sri Lanka confident of selling most of US$200mn bond
March 17, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will sell “most of” a dollar denominated bond issue, a top official said amid tight conditions in capital markets that is making commercial dollar debt increasingly scarce. Two years ago the government raised 215 million dollars through dollar bonds at an average of 144.06 basis points above 6-month […]
Sri Lanka dollar bond premium up; US$184.25mn rolled over
Mar 17, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has raised 184.25 million US dollars in 2-year bonds at a premium of 540 basis points above the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), the government’s debt office said. The bonds are bought by mostly resident investors who have access to foreign currency including banks. Sri Lanka offered to […]
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March 16, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops pushed deeper into remaining Tamil Tiger-held territory and captured a rebel court house in weekend battles, the defence ministry said on Monday.The UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said last week 2,800 civilians had been killed in the fighting since January 20, and that both sides may […]