Author: lbostgadmin
Sri Lanka rupee trades without intervention
Dec 15, 2008 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka rupee traded around 111.45/55 levels after dipping lower to 111.50/60 Monday, while overnight rates edged lower on excess liquidity, dealers said. The rupee closed at 111.30/45 levels Thursday with no intervention and there was no intervention in early trading Monday, dealers said. Overnight call rate rates dropped […]
Sri Lanka central bank disputes S&P credit downgrade
Dec 15, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has disputed a sovereign credit downgrade by Standard & Poors to ‘B’ from ‘B+’ saying it done without “proper assessment”. The Central Bank also said some comments in a media statement issued by the rating agency were “factually incorrect, logically untenable and grossly misleading.” The central […]
Sri Lanka diplomats decry encroachment
Dec 14, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s professional diplomats have slammed a practice by government politicians of appointing friends, relations and cronies to missions abroad, saying it damaged the country’s interests. The letter was aimed at highlighting the habit of successive governments and foreign ministers of rewarding friends, cronies and political supporters with overseas appointments […]
Sri Lanka mounts air strikes as troops move to take Tiger HQ
December 14, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military carried out an intense aerial bombardment as ground troops were poised to overrun the Tamil Tiger rebels’ political headquarters, the defence ministry said Sunday. Air force planes carried out nine bombing sorties against positions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the district of Kilinochchi […]
India denies violating Pakistani airspace
NEW DELHI, December 14, 2008 (AFP) – India on Sunday denied any of its aircraft had intruded into Pakistani air space, as tensions ran high between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours over the Mumbai attacks.Pakistan’s air force said Indian jets flew over the Pakistani-administered part of Kashmir and the eastern city of Lahore, both places […]
Sri Lanka prints money to buy tea in Zimbabwe-style move
Dec 14, 2008 (LBO) – State-run Sri Lanka Tea Board has spent over 200 million rupees to buy tea, using printed money from the Central Bank, in a Zimbabwe-style inflationary quasi-fiscal move, the latest information reveals. Tea Board chairman Lalith Hettiarachchi said last week that it had bought almost a million kilograms of tea worth […]
Myanmar to hold five-day gems auction: state media
YANGON, December 13, 2008 (AFP) – Military-run Myanmar announced Saturday it would hold an auction of precious gems in Yangon early next year, despite economic sanctions banning their international trade.Europe also intensified economic sanctions on the regime after a deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protesters last year, while Washington and human rights groups have urged gem […]
Governance Issue
Dec 13, 2008 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka divisional council of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) has been suspended over a governance failure, its parent body in the United Kingdom said. CIMA said its operations and services to members in Sri Lanka would continue as usual and it would take action to build […]
Golden Years
Dec 13, 2008 (LBO) – With recessionary fears looming the need to secure one’s financial future has become even more important, though recent double digit inflation is eating almost all the disposable income of most average Sri Lankan, says a top analyst. You will have to go about setting a plan to achieve that objective. […]
Piracy
NAIROBI, December 13, 2008 (AFP) – Somali pirates have released a Greek chemical tanker seized in October but three crew members are feared dead, a Kenyan maritime official said Saturday. Somali pirates are still holding at least 14 foreign vessels and more than 300 crew members to ransom, including an arms-laden Ukrainian cargo and a […]
Sri Lanka researchers told of dangers of romanticism
Dec 12, 2008 (LBO) – Researchers in Sri Lanka and elsewhere should not be guided by romanticism but approach an issue with an open mind and be prepared to change traditional ideas if their findings suggest otherwise, a top economist has said. Papers from Indian and Pakistani researchers as well as those from Sri Lanka […]
Sri Lanka takes more Tiger territory
December 12, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military has captured another key town from Tamil Tiger guerrillas in the north following heavy fighting that left scores dead and wounded on both sides, officials said Friday.Security forces took control of Terumarikandi, about eight kilometres (five miles) south of Kilinochchi, the political capital of the Liberation Tigers […]