Author: lbostgadmin
Hard-pegged Hong Kong sees 4.3-pct inflation as US prices soar 4.6-pct in Jan 2008
HONG KONG, 2008 (AFP) – Higher food prices drove Hong Kong’s underlying inflation rate up to 4.3 percent year-on-year in January, official figures showed Friday. “Apart from the global food inflation, elevated energy prices, appreciation of the (Chinese yuan currency) and the weakening of the Hong Kong dollar would continue to pose upside risks to […]
Bank Ownership
Feb 24, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s DFCC Bank has taken the Central Bank to court in a legal challenge on restrictions on its ownership of another bank in which it is a big shareholder, a newspaper reported. DFCC is resisting a ruling by the Central Bank Monetary Board seeking to reduce its shareholding in […]
Terminal Disease
Feb 24, 2008 (LBO) — Sri Lanka will cancel a controversial deal for a container terminal at Colombo port and bring new conditions after a consortium led by the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) won a financial bid, a media report said. The deal hit newspaper headlines with port workers alleging that state-run Sri Lanka […]
Bomb blast outside Sri Lanka capital injures eight: hospital
Feb 23, 2008 (AFP) – A bomb went off in a bus in a Colombo suburb on Saturday, wounding at least eight people, a hospital official said. Passengers were evacuated from the bus in the town of Mount Lavinia after the crew raised the alarm over a suspicious parcel left inside the vehicle, Sri Lankan […]
Sri Lanka bus blast in Colombo south
Feb 23, 2008 (LBO) – A bomb exploded in a bus in Mount Lavinia, a suburb south of the Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo Saturday, police said. The office of Sri Lanka’s police spokesman said at least two bus passengers were injured. Passengers had discovered the bomb and most of them were already out of the […]
Sri Lanka bomb blast outside capital injures 17: military
Feb 23, 2008 (AFP) – A parcel bomb exploded on a bus in a Colombo suburb on Saturday, wounding at least 17 people in the latest in a string of violent attacks, the defence ministry said.But casualties would have been far greater if an alert passenger had not spotted the booby-trapped package and shouted at […]
Commodities boom as Fed money printing weakens dollar
LONDON, Feb 22, 2008 (AFP) – The price of oil soared to an historic high above 101 dollars this week, while gold and platinum also scored record peaks as speculators dived into already buoyant commodities markets. The Eastern Index slid to 9.74 Australian dollars a kilo, from 9.92 Australian dollars a week earlier. Prices of […]
Singapore Airshow sees 13.4 billion dollars in deals: organisers
SINGAPORE, Feb 23, 2008 (AFP) – The Singapore Airshow saw more than 13.4 billion US dollars in sales of aircraft and related equipment this week, thanks to a booming aviation market, organisers have said. Another 2.6 billion dollars was generated from contracts for facilities and other services, they said in a statement issued late Friday, […]
Submarine Mafia
Feb 23, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s coastal fisheries and coral reefs are being destroyed by a rapid rise in dynamite blasted ‘fishing’, with the lucrative practice now exploding into an organized crime involving big money, officials said. . Dyanamite fishing is a destructive way of killing fish by setting off explosives underwater so that […]
Medicine Men
Feb 23, 2008 (LBO) – Sales representatives of Sri Lankan medical firms are to be given identity cards through the pharma industry and given access to government hospitals during specified hours. They would also have to observe a strict code of conduct under a deal worked out between the industry and the health ministry to […]
Credit Crunch
Feb 23, 2008 (LBO) – Loans approved by Sri Lanka’s DFCC Bank in the nine months to December 2007 has plunged to 10 billion rupees from 17 billion a year before, the company told shareholders. DFCC said lower credit demand for capital expenditure, high interest rates and an effort to maintain credit quality slashed loan […]
Sri Lanka steps up air strikes against Tamil Tigers
Feb 22, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lankan war planes stepped up bombing raids inside Tamil Tiger-controlled territory Friday, a day after intense ground battles left at least 95 people dead, the defence ministry said. Jet fighters hit a key base of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the morning after air strikes against […]