Author: lbostgadmin
Burst Bubble
LONDON, October 16, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices slumped further on Thursday, with Brent crude sliding below 68 dollars a barrel to the lowest level for more than 15 months, as slowing energy demand took its toll, traders said.Crude oil futures were down more than 50 percent from record highs of above 147 dollars reached […]
Wall Street suffers historic savaging
NEW YORK, October 15, 2008 (AFP) – Wall Street stocks plunged Wednesday in the second biggest single day point loss in history and their worst percentage fall in two decades, ravaged by fears the world’s biggest economy is slipping into recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 733.08 points (7.87 percent) to close at 8,577.91 […]
”?
WASHINGTON, October 16, 2008 (AFP) – With recession fears for the US economy growing by the day in the wake of a global financial crisis, analysts are pondering the questions of how deep and how wide the downturn will be.Reinforcing those fears, the Commerce Department reported that US retail sales — a key to economic […]
Leaders eye finance overhaul as markets tumble
TOKYO, October 16, 2008 (AFP) – Emergency measures to tackle the financial crisis provided little relief for nervous investors Thursday, as stock markets around the world took a battering on fears of a global recession ahead. With most analysts now considering a US recession inevitable, markets looked beyond the current wave of bank rescue packages […]
Europe urges global finance reform as stocks take new hammering
PARIS, October 16, 2008 (AFP) – Calls mounted Thursday for an overhaul of the global financial system as stocks took a new hammering and Switzerland took drastic action to defend its prized banks with a 60 billion dollar package for UBS. The Tokyo stock market suffered its worst loss for two decades, closing down more […]
Sri Lanka must prove it meets GSP+ conditions: UK envoy
Oct 16, 2008 (LBO) – British high commissioner Peter Hayes said Thursday his government hopes Sri Lanka will be able to renew the GSP+ trade deal that allows duty free exports to the European Union. Britain hopes the government will be able to provide the evidence needed to show it has complied with the conditions […]
Sri Lanka steps up air strikes on rebels, food convoy blocked
October 16, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military on Thursday stepped up attacks against suspected Tamil Tiger positions in the island’s north and accused the rebels of blocking a UN-escorted food convoy.The UN’s World Food Programme was escorting a convoy of trucks taking essentials for hundreds of thousands of people in rebel-held areas on Thursday […]
‘s cuts reserve ratio again to 6.5-pct for liquidity
MUMBAI, October 15, 2008 (AFP) – India’s central bank said Wednesday it was injecting a further 400 billion rupees (8.25 billion dollars) into the financial system by cutting the cash reserve commercial banks must hold to 6.5 percent. The move by the Reserve Bank of India is the third such cut in the past two […]
Migrant Risks
Oct 16, 2008 (LBO) – The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has urged Sri Lanka to help three workers facing execution in Saudi Arabia saying the government should do more for migrant workers who earn foreign exchange.“The imminent execution of three Sri Lankans on the Saudi Arabian death row can be prevent only by the […]
Better Banks
Oct 16, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s banking sector is sound amidst a global rout and early regulatory action taken to prick the bubble, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal has said. The high inflation in early 2008 was partly caused by lax monetary policies in the second half of 2007 and also external inflation imported […]
Resilience
ADDIS ABABA, October 16, 2008 (AFP) – Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Thursday that the economy would not be devastated following the global financial crisis, despite a possible cut in aid and investment flows. “In general, we don’t expect drastic effects on our economy, our financial structure is not as liberalised as those of […]
Freight Deflation
Oct 16, 2008 (LBO) – Freight costs could fall with an expected slowdown in the US economy and the end this weekend of shipping liner cartels which fix rates, Sri Lankan shippers said.Sri Lankan shippers have long enjoyed the advantage of having main line vessels calling at Colombo to pick up transshipment cargo, which usually […]