Sri Lanka property firm says real estate is a sound buy

Sept 15, 2007 (LBO) – A top Sri Lankan property developer says real estate is a sound investment because house prices do not fall, and construction costs goes up rather than down. The Ceylinco group says the property market has been a shock absorber to act as a hedge against inflation and other economic concerns […]

Sri Lanka cuts growth forecast for 2007: report

Sept 15, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has cut the economic growth forecast for 2007 to 7.0 percent from an earlier 7.5 percent, a report said days after the government’s statistics office released the latest growth numbers. Sri Lanka’s economic expansion slowed to 6.2 percent in the first half of 2007 from a […]

Sri Lanka turns CID loose on reporter; rights body outraged

Sept 15, 2007 (LBO) – An international media rights body expressed outrage after police asked a journalist to reveal his sources over a story about a car allegedly imported by a ruling party politician’s son. “After last month’s death threats against investigative journalist Iqbal Athas, this new case shows that it is getting more and […]

Roadside bomb kills two Sri Lankan soldiers

Sept 15, 2007 (AFP) – A roadside bomb set off by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels killed at least two government soldiers and wounded seven others in northern Sri Lanka, the defence ministry said on Saturday.More than 5,400 people have been killed in fighting in the past 21 months following the breakdown of a Norwegian-brokered truce. […]

Fresh violence kills 26 in Sri Lanka

Sept 15, 2007 (AFP) – At least 26 people, including two security personnel, were killed in a fresh wave of violence in Sri Lanka’s embattled north, the defence ministry said on Saturday.More than 5,400 people have been killed in fighting in the past 21 months following the breakdown of a Norwegian-brokered truce. The two soldiers […]

Australia bounce back to crush England

CAPE TOWN, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) – Australia bounced back from the embarrassment of defeat against Zimbabwe to crush England by eight wickets in a World Twenty20 match at Newlands on Friday. Flintoff and Owais Shah both hit sixes off off-spinner Andrew Symonds in the space of three balls but both fell in quick succession […]

‘s smashing Jayasuriya crushes New Zealand

JOHANNESBURG, Sept 15, 2007 (AFP) – Sanath Jayasuriya hit a second successive half-century as Sri Lanka warmed up for the next round of the Twenty20 world championships with a seven-wicket romp over New Zealand here on Saturday. The veteran left-hander, who made 88 off 44 balls against Kenya on Friday, blasted 61 off 44 as […]

Dollar firms, sterling hit by Northern Rock bank panic

NEW YORK, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) – The dollar steadied Friday a day after plunging to a record low on the euro, while the pound fell on jitters after a Bank of England bailout of key British lender Northern Rock.In late New York trade, the dollar stood at 115.35 yen after 115.04 Thursday and 1.1896 […]

ECB shrugs off French criticism, German support for prudence

PORTO, Portugal, Sept 15, 2007 (AFP) – European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet shrugged off on Saturday fresh French criticism of the ECB over its handling of recent financial market turmoil. EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia defended Juncker, saying he “deserves … our recognition as a president of the group that is […]

Northern Rock customers continue to take money out

LONDON, Sept 15, 2007 (AFP) – “My head tells me it’s all right but my heart says otherwise,” said an anxious accountant on the state of beleaguered British bank Northern Rock.The man in his 50s was queuing Saturday with 200 other worried customers outside the branch of Britain’s fifth-biggest mortgage lender in Golders Green, north-west […]

Network Track

Sept 15, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is on track to complete computer networking of 200 government offices, the state information technology agency said. The Lanka Government Network project hopes to connect 325 ministries, departments, provincial councils, district and divisional secretariats by the year-end the ICT agency said. The ICTA has also developed High-level Information […]

Open Call

Sept 15, 2007 (LBO) – India’s envoy in Sri Lanka urged the island’s business community to overcome reluctance to open the services sector in trade talks between the two countries, especially the movement of people. . India’s economic growth was accelerating faster than had been forecast, creating skills shortages that Sri Lankan companies were well […]

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