Fed may cut rates again after meeting: analysts

WASHINGTON, October 28, 2008 (AFP) – The Federal Reserve opens a two-day meeting Tuesday widely expected to cut key interest rates further as part of an unrelenting effort by the central bank to restore confidence to battered markets. The US central bank, which led a coordinated global rate cut earlier this month that pushed its […]

Euro US dollar parity to 1.2328 dollars, lowest since April 2006

TOKYO, October 28, 2008 (AFP) – The euro dropped to 1.2328 dollars in Asian trade on Tuesday, the lowest level since April 2006, pressured by growing fears of recession in Europe. The euro later recovered slightly to 1.2357 dollars, still sharply lower compared with its level of 1.2520 dollars in New York overnight.Worries about the […]

Staff at top Asian brokerage asked to cut pay to avoid job losses

HONG KONG, October 28, 2008 (AFP) – Hundreds of senior staff at one of Asia’s top brokerages, CLSA, have been asked to take a pay cut of up to 25 percent in a bid to avoid redundancies, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.A total of 500 senior brokers, analysts and managers at the Asian brokerage unit of […]

Wal-Mart pulls eggs from China stores

BEIJING, October 28, 2008 (AFP) – Wal-Mart said Tuesday it had pulled a major brand of eggs from its stores in China, as concerns rose that an industrial chemical found in Chinese dairy products was in the nation’s wider food chain.The announcement by the US retail giant came after authorities in Hong Kong said eggs […]

Sri Lanka Tamil Tiger aircraft in night raid

Oct 28, 2008 (LBO) – Power to Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo was cut Tuesday night after Tamil Tiger guerilla aircraft dropped bombs in the north eastern Mannar area of the island, the military said. Military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said Tamil Tiger aircraft had dropped two bombs near the Mannar area police headquarters around 10.30 p.m. […]

Maldives votes in presidential run-off

MALE, October 28, 2008 (AFP) – Voting got under way in the Maldives on Tuesday to choose the country’s first-ever democratically elected president in a run-off between Asia’s longest serving leader and a former political prisoner. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the 71-year-old incumbent, faces his toughest critic Mohamed “Anni” Nasheed, 41, after failing to win an […]

Sri Lanka rubber producers urged to cut supply to prop up prices

Oct 28, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan authorities are advising rubber cultivators to reduce supply in an effort to prevent prices which have fallen off record highs, from slumping further. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Rubber Research Institute director Asoka Nugawala said a short-term […]

Sri Lanka tea prices hold after government purchases

Oct 28, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices stabilized and more lots were sold at Tuesday’s Colombo auctions after the state-run Tea Board began buying in a market in a rare intervention, officials and brokers said.To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Tea Board chairman […]

Micro Lending

Oct 28, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Orix Leasing has linked with Dutch development financier FMO to expand its micro finance with 10 million US dollar loan and equity injection, officials said.LOLC Micro Finance is getting a 2.0 million US dollar equity injection from FMO for a 20 percent stake.FMO will pump in a further […]

Sri Lanka shares in free fall

Oct 28, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares plunged Tuesday with heavy losses in some blue chips as investors sold on fears of worsening company profitability and the uncertainty keeping away buyers, brokers said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 The All Share Price Index […]

IMF gets new business as central banks lose reserves on intervention mistakes

WASHINGTON, October 26, 2008 (AFP) – Ukraine, facing political deadlock and an economic crisis, agreed a 16.5-billion-dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund on Sunday. The deal, announced by IMF director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, followed a 2. 1-billion-dollar loan to Iceland on Friday and comes amid appeals for help from other countries. “An IMF staff mission […]

WASHINGTON, October 26, 2008 (AFP) – The head of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn announced on Sunday that a “substantial financing package” would be announced for Hungary in the next few days. “An IMF staff mission and the Hungarian authorities, in close consultation with the EU, have reached broad agreement on a set of […]

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