Author: lbostgadmin
Little Tease
The government confirmed plans to sell a further stake in Sri Lanka Telecom and is presently exploring various exit options.ldblquote The government of Sri Lanka has by an official communique informed the board of directors of SLT that they were contemplating a further divestment of the shares held in SLT,” SLT CEO, Shuhei Anan said […]
Coming Out Party
So far, the bank has written to international rating agents, like Citibank and J P Morgan who currently have a local presence, about playing an advisory role in the rating process.rn rnPlans for a sovereign rating have been pending for several years, but have always been put off because of the war. rn rnBut a […]
Smooth Operator
Primary Dealers in government debt will be asked to raise their capital next year, as the Central Bank tries to strengthen the dealer network.The new regulations for dealers who operate in the primary government securities market comes, as the Central Bank steps up its drive to deepen the debt market.rn rnAt the moment primary dealers […]
Calling Home
Lanka Bell on Thursday signed up with Net2Phone Global Services of US, to offer international calls at bargain rates to key destinations.Net2Phone routes calls over the Internet, unlike conventional traffic, which goes through undersea cables.rn rnAlso referred to as Voice Over Internet Protocol or VOIP, the system offers international voice traffic at virtually a fraction […]
Interest Push
Policy makers could slap on a windfall tax on commercial banks if they dont narrow their interest rate spread within six weeks. Prof. G.L Peiris told reporters on Thursday that commercial banks are slow to comply with the governments strategy to achieve single digit lending rates.rn rnIn addition, Prof. Peiris says the wide interest rate […]
Second Tier
Coping with expansion needs, software engineering service provider, Virtusa is extending its Colombo base into the World Trade Centre. CEO Cris Canekeratne says, the WTCs size would allow Virtusa to scale up its operations in Colombo, along with access to ready to use infrastructure, including internet bandwidth.rn rnMonies to expand into the WTC will be […]
Little Teaser
Singapores Changi Airport has shown interest in actively participate in developing and managing Sri Lankas airports.The Board of Investments said in a statement that Changi Airport Chairman Boon Swan Foo had expressed his sentiments during a meeting with BOI Chairman Arjunna Mahendra on Wednesday.rn rnFoo had shown interest in Sri Lankas airport expansion programme and […]
Falling, Falling
The Central Bank cut its key short-term rates on Thursday, signalling that the economy was getting stronger.rnrnThe bank lowered its overnight repurchase rate (repo rate) by 50 basis points to 7.0 percent.rn rnThe reverse repurchase rate (reverse repo) was cut by 100 basis points to 8.50 percent, the bank said in a statement following its […]
Re-Dialing
Telecom policymakers are re-considering the option to set up national points of interconnection, to fix the current impasse in reaching call termination agreement.rnrnSetting up national points of interconnections will allow in-discriminatory access to all operators, including External Gateway Operators (EGO) to terminate calls locally.rn rnThe third option is being brought back, as efforts to urge […]
Angry Tones
Local telco operators have teamed up, to oppose a possible merger between Sri Lanka Telecom and Lanka Bell.In a hard-hitting letter, operators endash Celltel, Dialog, Suntel, Hutchison and GoTel Networks endash have protested of an impending monopoly situation, if the merger goes through.rn rnThe four protesting operators command a subscriber base of over 1.2 mn […]
Adding Wings
The Civil Aviation Authority says it is processing applications to allow local firms to operate a few international schedule flights from Sri Lanka.The international operations will materialise through charter flights to neighbouring countries, the aviation watchdog said in a statement on Tuesday.rn rnThe watchdog says move is part of the government decision to shift towards […]
Air Support
Private operators who want to build an Airport in Southern Sri Lanka are asking the government to arrange loan facilities to part fund it, Southern Development Minister Ananda Kularatne said.The Airport & Aviation Services Ltd (AASL), a state owned firm that owns and operates Katunayake International Airport has just concluded a feasibility study, which has […]