Arabian Luxury

Feb 16, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s State Engineering Corporation (SEC) has clinched a deal to build a $125mn luxury housing project in Qatar, construction minister Rajitha Senaratne said. . SEC will send 1,600 workers to Qatar to build the 345 urban villas and also ship locally made inputs like wall and floor tiles, electrical […]

Transition

Feb 17, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s NDB Bank has announced that its Deputy Chief Executive Officer Eran Wickramaratne will succeed Nihal Welikala as the Chief Executive from April 1 after the latter’s retirement. Both are former officers of the Citibank NA, Colombo. Wickramaratne joined NDB in April 1999 and has been closely associated with […]

Sri Lanka, emerging Asia would gain from prudent monetary policy: S&P

Feb 15, 2008 (LBO) – Countries that resist pressure to ease monetary policy would make long term gains, the rating agency Standard and Poor’s said in a report on 11 Asian nations that showed Sri Lanka had the highest forecast inflation in 2008. “Some central banks will likely yield to calls to support growth and […]

Sri Lanka trade deficit stable in 2008, exports up in December

Feb 15, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s trade deficit grew a mere 5.6 percent in 2007, and exports in December soared 22.7 percent to 863.4 million dollars, the Central Bank said. The trade balance grew to 3,560 million dollars in 2007 with exports growing 12.5 percent to 7.7 billion dollars, and imports growing 10.2 percent […]

Sri Lanka slams S&” outlook cut

Feb 15, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has slammed Standard and Poor’s (S&P) over an outlook cut saying the move was unwarranted, illogical, ill-advised, and without rational basis. “It is abundantly clear that S&P has chosen to overlook the many favourable factors and are, for reasons best known to them, suddenly discovering weaknesses […]

India calls for naval alliance with Sri Lanka and other countries

NEW DELHI, (AFP) – India called for an alliance of navies to boost security at sea at its first naval summit Thursday with nations that have a stake in the busy maritime lanes of the Indian Ocean.The summit will wind up on Friday with a closed-door conclave of the naval chiefs in the Indian seaside […]

Sri Lanka keeps up air strikes on rebel territory

Feb 15, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lankan war planes carried out bombing raids Friday inside territory held by Tamil Tiger guerrillas, the defence ministry said.A training camp of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was targeted in Friday’s attack, which followed a similar raid on Thursday, the ministry said. The air attacks are part […]

Sri Lanka contain Australia despite Gilchrist heroics

PERTH, Australia, Feb 15, 2008 (AFP) – Local hero Adam Gilchrist scored a fairytale century as Australia made 236 in their tri-series one-day match against Sri Lanka at the WACA here Friday.The 36-year-old left-hander is quitting international cricket at the end of the series and it was his final innings at his home ground. Gilchrist […]

Sri Lanka beaten by Australia

PERTH, Australia, Feb 15, 2008 (AFP) – Local hero Adam Gilchrist scored a fairytale century in a man-of-the-match performance that lifted Australia to victory in their tri-series one-day game against Sri Lanka at the WACA Friday. After his 118 helped the hosts make 236 from 49.4 overs, Sri Lanka blew the chance to go top […]

Dollar slips after Bernanke opens door to rate cuts

NEW YORK, Feb 14, 2008 (AFP) – The dollar eased against other major currencies Thursday after US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke highlighted economic risks, signaling further interest rate cuts to bolster growth.Around 2200 GMT, the euro was at 1.4637 dollars, up from 1.4573 dollars in New York late Wednesday. The dollar also fell to […]

‘s inflation surges to 66,000 percent

HARARE, Feb 14, 2008 (AFP) – Zimbabwe’s inflation rate, already the highest in the world, has soared to a new high of 66,212.3 percent, according to official figures obtained by AFP on Thursday.“The year-on-year inflation rate for the month of December 2007, as measured by the all items Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 66,212.3 […]

Indonesian shares close 0.5 percent higher

JAKARTA, Feb 15, 2008 (AFP) – Jakarta share prices closed 0.5 percent higher Friday rebounding from morning losses after the government’s announcement of strong 2007 growth data, dealers said. They said for 2007, the economy expanded 6.32 percent, the fastest for Indonesia since the Asian financial crisis 11 years ago.It remained below the pre-crisis level […]

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