Author: lbostgadmin
Expelled Sri Lanka ex-warlord returns from Britain
July 3, 2008 (AFP) – A former Sri Lankan Tamil guerrilla leader expelled from Britain returned Thursday after serving a brief jail term on immigration charges, officials said. Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, also known as Colonel Karuna and who was jailed in London in January, was escorted back to Sri Lanka, airport officials said. Karuna, who led […]
High hopes for Asia at Beijing
SINGAPORE, July 4, 2008 (AFP) – Asian nations will without doubt bag plenty of medals at the Olympics but what is blindingly clear is that host China will outdo all its regional competitors.At the 2004 Games in Athens 15 Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) nations fought their way onto the medal table. A rampant China […]
Biofuels behind food price hikes: leaked World Bank report
LONDON, July 4, 2008 (AFP) – Biofuels have caused world food prices to increase by 75 percent, according to the findings of an unpublished World Bank report published in The Guardian newspaper on Friday.The daily said the report was finished in April but was not published to avoid embarrassing the US government, which has claimed […]
” to oil surge: ADB
TOKYO, July 4, 2008 (AFP) – Asia’s emerging economies are “highly vulnerable” to skyrocketing oil prices, making inflation the number one concern for policymakers, the head of the Asian Development Bank said Friday.But emerging Asia looks set to avoid a sharp slowdown given strong economic growth in China and should easily avoid a repeat of […]
Re-pricing
July 04, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank is re-thinking the price of a rights issue and a share placement after market prices fell below the issue price, the bank said in a stock exchange filing.Sampath shares traded at 97 rupees on Friday. Sampath said the market price of the share dropped below the […]
Bank Rating
July 4, 2008 (LBO) – Fitch Sri Lanka has today confirmed the BB+(lka) rating of Union Bank of Colombo (UB) saying its asset quality has improved, but more capital was needed to meet minimum requirements. UB’s existing loan book has concentrations to the export-import and wholesale trader segments through overdraft facilities which were 39 percent […]
Sri Lanka DIMO price drops after share buy-back
July 04, 2008 (LBO) – The share price of Diesel and Motor Engineering (DIMO) dropped below 100 rupees Friday amidst investor concern that last month’s share buyback at 160 rupees would push up debt and trim profits. The overall market ended lower, continuing the weak trend as investors believe high inflation and interest rates could […]
Sri Lanka firm to lobby G8 on water
July 3, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hayleys group has joined top global firms to lobby the eight leading industrial nations to make water availability a priority at an upcoming meeting in Japan next week, the company said. Hayleys is one of 19 companies that have signed the CEO Water Mandate, an initiative of the […]
Sri Lanka private sector calls for prudent reforms
July 03, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s private sector has called on the government to implement politically difficult reforms and austerity measures to put the economy on a better footing. Anura Ekanayake, deputy vice chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, said the government should do reforms to correct the wrong policies that hinder growth […]
World Bank appoints new South Asia chief
July 3, 2008 (LBO) – The World Bank has appointed Isabel Guerrero, country director for India as vice president for the South Asia region, replacing Praful Patel who retired on July 02, the multilateral lender said. “It is a most special privilege to be invited to take on this role in one of the most […]
Sri Lanka human rights abuses, attacks on media draw US concern
July 3, 2008 (AFP) – The United States said Thursday it had “strong concerns” about Sri Lanka’s deteriorating human rights record and escalating attacks on the local media.Deputy assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs Evan Feigenbaum expressed US concerns to Sri Lankan authorities during his four-day visit which ends Thursday. “We […]
OPEC blames money printing, reserve currency debauchment for oil bubble
MADRID, July 3, 2008 (AFP) – Tensions have flared between the oil powers and consumer nations at the World Petroleum Congress this week, with no sign of common ground on how to bring down record crude prices. After failing to find agreement at a hastily arranged summit in Saudi Arabia on June 22, this week’s […]