Author: lbostgadmin
‘s level
Sept 25, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production for August was higher than the same month last year but the island is still to fully recover from the disruption in harvesting caused by a strike and bad weather, officials said. The total production for August rose 11 percent to 24.2 million kg compared with […]
Apples and Oranges
Sept 25, 2007 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund which has warned of further fallouts from the sub-prime crisis has called on credit evaluators to use a new rating scale to describe default risks of asset-backed securities. Now asset-backed debt products or securitized instruments use the same rating scale that is used from straightforward bonds […]
Sri Lanka treasury yields up again
Sept 25, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s benchmark 3- month treasury yields went up 15 basis points to 18.20 with the cut-off pushing 18.30 percent dealers said, as authorities struggled to stabilize an economy hit by heavy government spending. Meanwhile 6-month yields went up 15 basis points to 17.47 percent and the 12-month went up […]
Heavy battles in Sri Lanka claim 27 lives: military
Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) – Heavy fighting between security forces and Tamil rebels in northern Sri Lanka has left at least 27 people dead, military officials said Monday. The LTTE lost at least 20 men in pre-dawn clashes Monday on the Jaffna peninsula, according to the defence ministry. Another three Tigers were killed in the […]
India win Twenty20 title after rousing finale
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) – Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s young Indian team snatched the inaugural Twenty20 world title after defeating arch-rivals Pakistan by five runs in a thrilling final on Monday.Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi was declared the player of the tournament despite falling for zero in the final. The Indians, restricted to 157-5 after electing […]
Greenspan bashes Bush, defends own record
WASHINGTON, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) – Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said Sunday the US economy has a better than evens chance of beating a recession but warned that a housing slowdown could hit spending hard. “We’re heading for a slowdown,” he said on NBC in the latest television appearance to publicize his new […]
European Central Banks concerned over French budget deficit
PARIS, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) – European Central Bank head Jean-Claude Trichet said Sunday that France’s public finances were in “very great difficulty” with the worst public spending to output ratio in the European Union. “I would say that French public finances are in very great difficulty,” Trichet said in an interview on Europe 1 […]
Spacious nuclear-proof missile base as your new home
WASHINGTON, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) – Looking for a new home with a bit more space as well as a 1950s Cold War ambiance? A US intercontinental ballistic missile base, equipped with a vast underground network of tunnels and rooms but no atomic warheads, is for sale in a remote corner of the United States. […]
” impact: IMF
WASHINGTON, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) – The turmoil stemming from the US subprime property loan market and tighter credit will have a “far-reaching” impact on the world economy, the International Monetary Fund said Monday.“Downside risks have increased significantly and even if those risks fail to materialize, the implications of this period of turbulence will be […]
Cell Finance
Sept 24, 2007 (LBO) – International Finance Corporation, the private sector financing arm of the World Bank inked a 100 million financing deal Monday with Sri Lanka’s biggest mobile phone operator, Dialog Telekom.Washington-based IFC will lend 70 million dollars in debt, while the balance will be used to buy shares from Dialog’s parent company, Telekom […]
Biometric Banking
Sept 24, 2007 (LBO) – ICICI Bank, India’s second-largest bank, is planning to demonstrate in Sri Lanka its smart card technology that helped create innovative products and take banking to rural India, even to illiterate farmers, a top official said. Chanda Kochhar, Deputy Managing Director of ICICI Bank, said its technology partner Financial Information Network […]
Sri Lanka opposition renews warning on sovereign bond
Sept 24, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s opposition has renewed its warning that a planned sovereign bond has no parliamentary sanction and a future government made up of the current opposition will “cancel” the bond. The opposition United National Party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe had warned HSBC Bank, a joint lead manager of the bond deal, […]