Sri Lanka seeks wider access to China under trade deal

Sept 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan exporters will get better access to the Chinese market in a new round of talks under a regional trade deal scheduled for completion in October, officials said.Sri Lanka will ask for more products to be covered in the fourth round of talks under the preferential trading arrangement, Asia-Pacific […]

Sri Lanka meets quantitative targets under IMF program: CB Governor

Sept 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has met the key end-September quantitative targets under an International Monetary Fund program, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said.“We have met all the targets under the program,” Cabraal said. A key target is a ceiling on reserve money or the narrowest supply of money made up of circulating […]

Sri Lanka re-appoints former Treasury secy. Jayasundera

Sept 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s former Treasury Secretary P B Jayasundera has resumed his post with immediate effect after the President Mahinda Rajapaksa re-appointed him to the post, the department of government information said. Jayasundera had served as Treasury Secretary under two Pesidents. Sumith Abeysinghe, who was Treasury Secretary has been made Cabinet […]

Sri Lanka state revenues improve in July; budget gap still wide

Sept 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state revenues picked up in July, with taxes in the first seven months only 1.47 percent behind last year, but the budget gap continues to be wide, with current expenses growing 24.7 percent, the latest official data showed. The implied annualized overall deficit narrowed to 10.4 percent of […]

US Lesson

September 27, 2009 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan government said on Sunday it would study the United States’ treatment of suspected Islamic militants to learn how to deal with thousands of alleged former Tamil Tiger rebels. Sri Lanka’s attorney general Mohan Peiris was set to arrive in Washington on Monday for talks with his US […]

Uneasy Ryder sets up vital New Zealand victory

JOHANNESBURG, September 27, 2009 (AFP) – Brave opener Jesse Ryder struck 74 runs to set up New Zealand for a 38-run win over Sri Lanka at the Wanderers Sunday that kept alive hopes of an ICC Champions Trophy semi-finals place.Ryder had to use a runner as he battled a hamstring injury and his 125-run opening […]

Sri Lanka says to resettle displaced Tamils quickly

UNITED NATIONS, September 26, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s prime minister vowed anew here Saturday that Colombo would quickly resettle civilians still in state-run camps after being displaced by the government rout of Tamil separatists.He complained that Sri Lankan authorities were not making sufficient progress in implementing a deal reached in May by Colombo and […]

Sri Lanka 2010 budget may be delayed: report

Sept 27, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka government’s budget for 2010 which is usually presented to parliament in November may be delayed till after elections expected in April, a media report said.Another IMF mission is due in November. It is not clear whether the 2010 structural benchmark for December 31, 2010 will be dropped […]

Air India flights disrupted as pilots protest pay cuts

NEW DELHI, September 26, 2009 (AFP) – State-owned Air India said several flights were disrupted Saturday after some senior pilots reported sick in protest at a decision by the airline to slash productivity bonuses.The protest by the non-unionised executive pilots, classified as airline management, comes as India’s biggest religious festival season of the year gets […]

”s gesture

JOHANNESBURG, September 26, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has praised his England counterpart Andrew Strauss for recalling his batsman after he was run out during a Champions Trophy match here on Friday. Sri Lankan Angelo Mathews turned England fast bowler Graham Onions to square-leg and completed a first run comfortably but collided […]

Sri Lanka economists debate currency board systems

Sept 26, 2009 (LBO) – The virtues of a currency board system were hotly debated at an annual confab of top economists in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo, as the island emerged from its latest balance of payments crisis caused by an unstable peg. Sri Lanka was exposed to balance of payments crises after 1950 when […]

Sri Lanka industrial production up 2.2-pct in June

Sept 26, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s private sector industrial production rose 2.2 percent in in June 2009, from a year earlier, with food, wood products showing an upturn and apparels bottoming out, official data showed. Rubber goods production was down 3.2 percent. Cement was up 1.6 percent (down 14.1 percent in May) and building […]

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