Author: lbostgadmin
Dollar hits 12-year low vs yen, euro sets new record
TOKYO, March 13, 2008 (AFP) – The dollar slumped to a 12-year low against the yen and to a new all-time nadir versus the euro in Asian trade Thursday as traders bet on a hefty cut to US interest rates next week, dealers said. It is “only a matter of time before the dollar tests […]
European Carlyle investment fund to be liquidated
NEW YORK, March 13, 2008 (AFP) – Dutch-listed investment fund Carlyle Capital Corporation announced Thursday it had failed to reach a deal with its creditors and had defaulted on debt of nearly 17 billion dollars (11 billion euros).Share-trading in the troubled fund, linked to private equity giant Carlyle Group, was suspended in Amsterdam Friday, resumed […]
Sri Lankan graphite miner increases profit with powder exports
March 13, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan graphite miner Bogala Graphite Lanka said its net profit for 2007 was boosted 51 percent to 34.5 million rupees from the year before w by a new plant making high value powders. The plant can produce 29 grades of ‘classified graphite powders’ for export to end-users in the […]
Sri Lanka to raise power tariffs from March 15
Mar 13, 2008 (LBO) — Sri Lanka would raise power tariffs from March 15 by slapping a 30 percent fuel recovery charge on most users and taking away subsidies now given to industries and religious institutions, a senior minister said.“This government is already giving a fertilizer subsidy to farmers and building infrastructure, so we cannot […]
Premium Rules
March 13, 2008 (LBO) – General insurance premiums must be settled within 60 days so that the insured have the ability to claim and for insurers to avoid solvency difficulties, Sri Lankan insurance companies and the regulator said. They said the regulator, the Insurance Board of Sri Lanka (IBSL), has instructed insurance firms to attach […]
Maritime Thrust
Mar 13, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hemas group wants to expand into ships and port operations after its entry to the sector by starting a shipping agency and capitalize on the island’s position on major sea lanes, an official said. . “The group as a policy has decided to invest in the maritime sector,” […]
Sri Lanka central bank to drain foreign cash with own securities
Mar 13, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank said it would issue its own securities to drain excess cash generated from foreign exchange interventions after running out of Treasury Bills which are usually sold to drain liquidity.The Central Bank said its Treasury Bill stock has fallen to half a billion rupees by March 12, […]
Sri Lanka journalist arrests troubles CPJ
Mar 12, 2008 (LBO) – An international media rights watchdog says it is troubled by the arrests of several Sri Lankan journalists, some of them from the ethnic Tamil minority and called on authorities to charge or release them immediately. Six people connected to Outreachsl.com, a news website was arrested by terror sleuths of which […]
Sri Lanka says 28 more Tigers killed in fresh fighting
March 11, 2008 (AFP) – At least another 28 Tamil Tiger rebels have been killed by security forces in fresh fighting across Sri Lanka’s embattled north, the defence ministry said Wednesday.More than 60,000 people have been killed in the separatist conflict which erupted in 1972.The overnight clashes were in the districts of Jaffna, Vavuniya and […]
Obama wins Mississippi primary
BILOXI, Mississippi, March 11, 2008 (AFP) – Barack Obama won Tuesday’s Democratic primary in the southern state of Mississippi, racking up another victory over Hillary Clinton in the party’s bitter White House race.The Illinois senator’s camp demanded she be ousted from the campaign, while Clinton said she regretted the remarks but did not cut Ferraro, […]
Global stocks surge on Fed moves to lend against junk bonds
NEW YORK, March 11, 2008 (AFP) – World stocks broke out of their slump with a powerful rally Tuesday as the US and other central banks moved to pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the financial system to ease a global credit squeeze. The announcement helped lift the malaise in equity markets, which had […]
US fires at rights abuses in Asia, Sri Lanka; China dropped from worst list
WASHINGTON, March 11, 2008 (AFP) – The United States ranked North Korea and Myanmar Tuesday among the world’s worst violators of human rights and took other Asian countries to task for alleged abuses.In Australia, the report mentioned “domestic violence against women and children, particularly in Aboriginal communities, and societal discrimination against Aboriginal people.” But the […]