Author: lbostgadmin
‘s money printing rate hits 5.75 percent
LONDON, July 5, 2007 (AFP) – The Bank of England raised its key interest rate by a quarter-point to 5.75 percent on Thursday, the highest level for more than six years, in a bid to dampen British inflation. The BoE’s move to hike the cost of borrowing for the fifth time since August 2006 had […]
Tech Tour
July 06, 2007 (LBO) – A delegation from Sri Lanka’s information technology companies will attend the IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) summit in India to gain insights on developing the trade, Sri Lanka’s ICT Agency said. ICTA – a state agency – plans to lead the delegation to the NASSCOM IT-BPO Strategy Summit 2007 […]
Graft Block
July 6, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan civil society has developed an action plan to counter corruption with help from USAID’s Anti-Corruption Program (ACP), the United States embassy in Colombo said. The embassy says the draft plan identifies priority actions to be taken by various constituencies including government, the private sector, civil society, media, and […]
Workers Money
July 06, 2007 (LBO) – The managers of Sri Lanka’s largest private sector retirement fund have responded to criticism that its money is being used to fund government expenses, saying funds are invested under professional advice. “The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in […]
Hard Drive
July 06, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC) says is aggressively chasing the motor insurance sector, an official said. SLIC says its overall premium is showing a growth of about 30 percent with the last two quarters as a result of adopting aggressive marketing techniques. “New blood has given life to the products […]
Smooth Payments
July 06, 2007 (LBO) – South Asian countries need to modernise their payments systems to cope with rapidly increasing cross border trade and investment flows trigged by faster economic growth, a senior central banker said Friday. “Trade and investment flows and demand for financial services will exceed the present levels over the next couple of […]
Sri Lanka alert as Tamil Tigers commemorate 322 suicide bombers
July 5, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka was on high alert Thursday as Tamil Tiger rebels commemorated the 322 male and female suicide bombers who have blown themselves up for the guerrilla cause over the last two decades. The Tamil Tigers are fighting for an independent homeland for the minority ethnic Tamils on the majority […]
Islamic banking and finance set to grow in Asia
SINGAPORE, July 5, 2007 (AFP) – Islamic banking and finance is likely to continue growing in the Asia Pacific region but the real test of its sustainability will be how the system reacts to a major financial crisis, a report said Thursday. The industry is set to develop its own identity separate from conventional banking […]
No Deal
July 05, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s construction industry has successfully lobbied the government to defer the liberalisation of construction and related services under a free trade deal with India, an official said. The industry is not wholly against the idea of liberalising services but wants to protect local players until they are ready to […]
Joint Effort
July 05, 2007 (LBO) – Senior officials from South Asian central and commercial banks will meet in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo Friday to discuss the setting up of a regional payment system, the country’s central bank said. Officials of regional central banks as well as the World Bank and Bank for International Settlements are […]
Finance Probe
July 05, 2007 (LBO) – A presidential commission of inquiry probing the collapse of a string of finance companies in Sri Lanka has begun questioning Central Bank officials. The four-member commission comprising of senior legal and finance experts commenced sittings on July 2 and will hold its next sessions on July 6 and 13. The […]
Retail Collection
July 05, 2007 (LBO) – HSBC has tied up with Singer Sri Lanka, a household durables firm, to use its network of outlets to collects payments for credit card bill payments for cardholders outside the capital. HSBC customers can use 162 Singer outlets throughout the island to pay settle their bills. “Our intention was to […]