Author: lbostgadmin
Sri Lanka urged to go for a deposit insurance scheme
Dec 19, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should introduce a compulsory deposit insurance scheme to strengthen the banking system and provide a public safety net, the International Monetary Fund has said. “The existing voluntary scheme is not used, and the fact that the one bank to have failed in the past few decades had been […]
Air Battle
Dec 19, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has decided to revoke the work permit of SriLankan Airlines chief executive Peter Hill, an official said.The Board of Investment chief Dhammika Perera said the action was taken was in the public interest after a request from the airline’s main shareholder was turned down. A government spokesman said […]
Sri Lanka climate change may ravage agriculture, coast areas
Dec 18, 2007 (LBO) – Rising temperatures over the next couple of decades will ravage Sri Lanka’s dry zone agriculture and a possible sea level rise will affect the coastal economy a top climate change expert has warned. A temperature rise in the next few years is feared even if big polluters decide to cap […]
Sri Lanka says more than 30,000 homeless after floods
Dec 18, 2007 (AFP) – Heavy monsoon showers have driven more than 30,000 people from their homes in eastern Sri Lanka, authorities said Tuesday, and delayed the start of a key cricket match with the visiting England team.Incessant weekend rains made some roads impassable, while rice fields were flooded, the national disaster management centre said. […]
Sri Lanka ticks off UNICEF envoy
Dec 17, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Monday summoned the head of UNICEF operations here and expressed Colombo’s “concern” over his visit to rebel-held territory in the island’s north, the foreign ministry said.The government insists it is working on a political package aimed at addressing the demands of ethnic Tamils, but at the same time […]
Sri Lanka deadliest place for journalists after Iraq and Somalia: CPJ
NEW YORK, Dec 18, 2007 (AFP) – Sixty-four journalists were killed on assignment in 2007, making it the deadliest year for reporters since 1994, the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in a report published Tuesday. One of the most widely reported media deaths of 2007 was that of Japanese video journalist Kenji Nagai, filmed […]
Wet grounds delay play in England-Sri Lanka Test
GALLE, Sri Lanka, Dec 18, 2007 (AFP) – Wet ground conditions prevented play before lunch on the opening day of the third and final cricket Test between England and Sri Lanka here on Tuesday.England are seeking a series-levelling win after losing the first Test in Kandy.The second Test in Colombo was drawn last week. Match […]
England opt to field in final Sri Lanka Test
GALLE, Sri Lanka, Dec 18, 2007 (AFP) – England captain Michael Vaughan won the toss and sent Sri Lanka in to bat in the third and final cricket Test at the Galle International Stadium here on Tuesday. The tourists, trailing 1-0 in the series, left out off-spinner Graeme Swann from the 12 announced on Monday […]
‘s ability to print its way out of trouble
NEW YORK, Dec 17, 2007 (AFP) – World stock markets were roiled Monday by worries that resurgent US inflation would reduce the chances for another Federal Reserve interest rate cut to shield the economy from a credit crunch. Wall Street shares fell sharply in the wake of a sea of red on European and Asian […]
Sri Lanka Insurance rating outlook lifted by Fitch
Dec 18, 2007 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has lifted the outlooks on the AA-(lka) national insurer financial strength rating and A+(lka) credit rating of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC) to positive from stable. “The Positive Outlooks reflect SLIC’s progress in reforming the company since privatisation in 2003,” the rating agency said. “Fitch believes that the […]
Fitch Sri Lanka gives HNB Assurance A(lka) insurance rating
Dec 18, 2007 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Sri Lanka has given HNB Assurance a national insurer financial strength rating of ‘A(lka)’ and a national long-term rating of ‘A-(lka)’ with stable outlooks. HNB Assurance is 60 percent-owned by Hatton National Bank Ltd (HNB), the second-largest private bank in Sri Lanka, rated ‘AA-‘. Fitch says HNB Assurance’s […]
Independent Management
Dec 18, 2007 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund has called for an independent governance structure for Sri Lanka’s Employees Provident Fund (EPF) amidst growing concern about real losses to the fund and its management at the hands of the Central Bank. In a Financial Sector Stability Assessment the IMF said a “sound, robust, and […]