Author: lbostgadmin
Arbitrage Fund
June 29, 2007 (LBO) – A UK-based hedge fund is entering Sri Lanka and has sought a listing in the Colombo Stock Exchange through the purchase of a listed shell company. Lionhart is expected to make a mandatory offer for the rest of the shares shortly. Lionhart Investments Limited has purchased 13,043,804 million shares of […]
Danger Signs
June 28 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Colombo port risks losing its status as south Asia’s transshipment hub if it does not move fast to add more capacity and make trade more streamlined, a senior Asian Development Bank official said. Although Colombo has a good reputation for reliability the country has not done enough to exploit […]
Ruling Roost
LONDON, June 28, 2007 (AFP) – Ten years after British energy markets were liberalised the customer is king and can put pressure on prices with a click of a computer mouse to change provider.Since Britain first prised open its gas and electricity markets to private households in 1998-1999, the market has settled down and prices […]
Sri Lanka media rights body slams moves to bring back law that curbed critical reporting
June 28, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Free Media Movement (FMM) has expressed shock at attempts to bring back a repealed law which it said was used in the past to silence critical reportage and to persecute editors and journalists. An international media rights mission that was in Sri Lanka this month called on the […]
Sri Lanka reports 430 killings in five months
June 28, 2007 (AFP) – Some 430 Sri Lankans were slain during a five-month period, most of them minority Tamils, a commission said on Thursday, amid growing controversy over rights abuses in the conflict-hit island. The Special Presidential Commission on Disappearances said the killings were reported between September 2006 and February 2007 as the country […]
Sri Lanka hopeful Norway meeting will help peace process
TOKYO, June 28, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said Thursday he was optimistic that a meeting of top donors this week would help to revive the island nation’s moribund peace process.Peace broker Norway is holding the crucial meeting of Sri Lanka’s top aid donors in a bid to halt a new […]
Murali and Malinga leads Sri Lanka in record win against Bangladesh
June 28, 2007 (AFP) – Lasith Malinga and Muttiah Muralitharan combined to destroy Bangladesh as Sri Lanka won the first Test of their three-match series by an innings and 234 runs.Both bowlers finished with four wickets each as Bangladesh, resuming their second innings at 233-5, were shot out for 254 within 30 minutes of the […]
HSBC, Standard Chartered targeted in forex crackdown
HONG KONG, June 28, 2007 (AFP) – HSBC and Standard Chartered confirmed Thursday they were among banks targeted in a crackdown by China’s foreign exchange regulator on speculative capital inflows. The two banks said they had recently been inspected by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) and had taken action to ensure they complied […]
Indian Bypass
June 28, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan exporters are being squeezed as fewer container ships heading west call into Colombo, with global shipping lines moving more business to India and its booming economy. Both projects have been delayed for over a decade because of poor government policy and analysts fear that further delays could see […]
Own Fleet
June 28 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s national shipping line has shelved plans to acquire a tanker for crude oil imports and is going ahead with the purchase of a cargo vessel to supply the northern Jaffna peninsula, an official said Ceylon Shipping Corporation (CSC) officials said a cargo ship is the more urgent requirement because […]
Chinese Squeeze
June 28 (LBO) – Sri Lankan exporters look set for difficult times with freight rates on the rise and their cargo being squeezed out of container ships chock full of Chinese exports, a top freight forwarder said Wednesday. “We do have a problem,” Niral Kadawatharatchie, chairman of the Sri Lanka Freight Forwarders’ Association told its […]
” economy
June 27, 2007 (LBO) – Areas bordering Sri Lanka’s western province, which is open to the world and has good infrastructure, grew fastest last year with a rapidly advancing service sector, the Central Bank has said. “In contrast, all the other provinces had per capita value added below the country average, ranging between 0.8 in […]