Sri Lankan stocks firmer, JKH up 30% this week

Jan 16, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s John Keells Holdings (JKH) closed the week up almost 30 percent at 66 rupees Friday after a media report that one of its largest shareholder would not divest any further, analyst said. “The market is not expecting good results, it depends on how much the market has absorbed […]

Sri Lanka rates up as liquidity tightens; CB bill stock Rs151bn

Jan 16, 2008 (LBO) – Overnight money rates spiked in Sri Lanka’s inter bank market and bond rates picked up amid tighter liquidity and the monetary authority opened its 12.00 percent liquidity facility, dealers said. Market participants parked 7.7 billion rupees at the repo window of the central bank by Friday while borrowing 14.1 billion […]

Indian Signal

Jan 15, 2009 (LBO) – India’s state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) which has been given an off-shore oil block in Sri Lanka, will inform the island whether it will start exploration within a month, a media report said.India’s Economic Times newspaper said Sri Lanka’s oil minister A H M Fowzie had met Indian […]

Sri Lanka troops capture Tamil Tiger air strip: military

January 15, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops have captured another air strip used by Tamil Tiger guerrillas to launch airborne attacks with light planes, the defence ministry said Thursday.The makeshift jungle runway is the fifth of its type to be overrun by government soldiers who are rapidly advancing on areas in the north once […]

Indian inflation falls for tenth straight week

NEW DELHI, January 15, 2009 (AFP) – India’s inflation fell for a tenth straight week, according to official data Thursday, creating more room to boost the nation’s slowing economy, economists said.Annual inflation stood at 5.24 percent for the week to January 3, down from 5.91 percent a week earlier, according to the Wholesale Price Index, […]

Sri Lanka tourist arrivals fall 18-pct in Nov 2008

Jan 15, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals fell 18.2 percent in November to 36,091 with key generating markets of Western Europe down 28.2 percent and South Asia down 12.6 percent, the tourist promotion office said. In the 11 months to November arrivals were down 10 percent to 389,550. November 2008, Western European arrivals […]

Counter Measures

Jan 15, 2009 (LBO) – People’s Leasing Company, Sri Lanka’s largest leasing firm, is slowing new lending and focusing on recoveries as a prudential measure as economic conditions weaken, a top official said. “About six to seven months back we expected that there might be a problem in the industry,” says D P Kumarage, the […]

Sri Lanka stocks close up 3.35-pct

Jan 15, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka stocks rallied 3.3 percent Thursday with punters bullish on plantation stocks and steep falls in the risk free interest rates over the week, dealers said. The Colombo All Share Index closed up 3.34 percent (52.62 points) at 1,628.87. The Milanka Index of liquid stocks closed up 4.94 percent […]

‘s murder row grows as diplomat censured

January 14, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s government censured a senior international diplomat after he spoke at the funeral of a newspaper editor whose murder has been blamed on the island’s rulers, officials said Wednesday.Sri Lanka’s opposition has demanded an international probe into the killing, which drew condemnation from the US, the European Union and […]

Sri Lanka stunned by Hasan blitz

DHAKA, January 14, 2009 (AFP) – Shakib Al Hasan smashed an explosive 92 not out to power Bangladesh into the triangular one-day series final with an upset five-wicket win over Sri Lanka here on Wednesday.The left-hander cracked two sixes and 10 fours in his 69-ball knock as Bangladesh surpassed Sri Lanka’s total of 147 with […]

Sri Lanka gains ground from Tamil Tigers: military

January 13, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops have captured more territory from Tamil Tigers in fierce battles around the rebels’ last stronghold in the northeast of the island, the defence ministry said Tuesday.The Tigers said a shell had also hit a hospital building and two people there sustained minor injuries. Claims by both sides […]

Sri Lanka troops flush Tigers from Jaffna

January 14, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops have established total control over the northern peninsula of Jaffna Wednesday after flushing out the last remaining pockets of rebel resistance, defence officials said. “The Tigers have not specified a place where the Red Cross can hand over the bodies to them,” a hospital official said. “Because […]

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