Author: lbostgadmin
Sri Lanka splashes US$ 1 mn to lure Indian holidaymakers
Mar 17 (LBO) — Sri Lanka will launch a US$ 1 million ad campaign into India on Saturday, to entice travelers from Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore to come experience the island. -Zainab Ibrahim: zainab@ The country, famed for its beaches, cultural tourism and wildlife holidays, is selling on its diversity and its close proximity off […]
Good Marks
Mar. 17 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Finance Company Ltd., picked up a A+(sri) credit rating from Fitch Ratings Lanka Ltd for their senior unsecured long-term debt, the agency said Friday. While an A (sri) rating indicates low credit risk, Central Finance is still vulnerable to external changes like shifts in macro economic conditions, Fitch […]
Normal or peculiar standard time?
Mar. 16 (LBO) — The President has announced that Sri Lanka’s clocks are to follow Indian Standard Time (IST) with effect from April 13th, 2006. This means that Sri Lanka will henceforth be at Coordinated Universal Time +5:30 or UTC+5:30, instead of UTC+6 as we are now. UTC is the officially accepted term for what […]
Sri Lankan public servants disrupt work, demanding higher pay
Mar. 16 (LBO) – Hundreds of Sri Lankan public servants marched into the city of Colombo Thursday demanding higher wages as part of a one-day nationwide strike, which disrupted work in rail, postal and health services, union officials said. -Mel Gunasekera: mel@ The Public Sector Salary Review Trade Unions Committee, an umbrella of 200 unions […]
Brush Up
Mar16 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank has finalised several amendments to the Banking Act that will strengthen its ability to implement regulatory directions, officials said. The Central Bank had run even run into obstacles in getting banks to comply with the recent directive to increase core capital of specialised banks to Rs1.5billion. Ceylinco Development […]
Direct Link
Mar. 16 (LBO) – Deutsche Bank AG’s Colombo branch plans to scale up its presence here by luring big corporates and multinationals to use their state of the art cash management and electronic banking system. “We have no plans to do retail banking in Sri Lanka. But we want to grow our business by focusing […]
‘s balance of payments records US$100 mn surplus
Mar. 15 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s balance of payments (BOP) has recorded a US$100 million surplus for the two-months to February, the Central Bank said Wednesday as it stayed pat on interest rates for the third straight month. Please click here to read Central Bank’s monetary policy statement for March -Mel Gunasekera: mel@ The overnight […]
Done Deal
Mar 15 (LBO) – The Treasury inked a deal with China National Machinery and Equipment Corporation on Wednesday, to build a US$ 455 million power plant in Norachcholai. Two decades overdue, the 300 megawatt plant as well as supporting infrastructure will be entirely funded by the Chinese government, Ranjith Fonseka, General Manager for the sole […]
’s Jinxed
Mar. 15 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s parliament is due to take up the Companies Act within the next two months, after a delay of nearly 13 years. The draft bill, first prepared by a New Zealand consultant in 1994, will replace the present Companies Act of 1982, said Chanaka de Silva, Senior Partner of Nithya […]
‘s Central Bank stays pat on interest rates
Mar. 15 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Wednesday left its policy rates at current levels for the third straight months, as it expects the 25-basis point hike last December to put the brakes on money supply growth.In a statement, the bank said it left its overnight repurchase rate at 8.75 percent and the reverse […]
Extra Support
Mar. 14 (LBO) – The International Finance Corp. said Tuesday that they have tied up with four Sri Lankan banks to increase access to finance small and medium enterprises (SME) in the island. IFC, the private sector lending arm of the World Bank, hopes the partnership with Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank of Ceylon, Hatton National […]
Expensive Chat
Mar. 13 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s two private wireless local loop telecom operators have been called up to pay around Rs. 400 million as duties for importing handsets, industry officials said. Last month, the island’s Board of Investment (BOI) slapped a 33 percent import duty on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) handsets with immediate effect. […]