Category:
New IMF loan insufficient for Pakistan problems: economist
KARACHI, August 8, 2009 (AFP) – Pakistani economists on Saturday said an additional 3.2 billion dollar loan from the IMF would have little impact on the economic problems facing the cash-starved South Asian country.The International Monetary Fund on Friday said it had approved an additional 3.2 billion dollar loan to Pakistan after it asked for […]
Canada triples aid to Sri Lanka
MONTREAL, August 8, 2009 (AFP) – Canada has decided to triple its humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka to assist people displaced by the country’s conflict with Tamil separatists, Canada’s top development minister said Saturday. The move came after Minister of International Cooperation Beverley Oda spent three days visiting the island nation and will take Canada’s […]
Sri Lanka Jetwing expands overseas, links with Nepal firm
Aug 08, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Jetwing leisure group is expanding abroad, building links with foreign partners, including Nepal’s Chaudhary conglomerate which is also investing in the island, a top official said. But with the end of a 30-year war in Sri Lanka prospects at home are also looking up. The mainstay of Sri […]
Australia to probe international education after India attacks
SYDNEY, August 8, 2009 (AFP) – Australia announced a sweeping review of its international education sector Saturday, as India’s foreign minister prepared to meet with students rattled by a series of attacks and study scams. Education Minister Julia Gillard said former Liberal MP and diplomat Bruce Baird would head the review, which was aimed at […]
‘s former war zone
August 8, 2009 (AFP) – Voting for two local councils began Saturday near Sri Lanka’s former war zone, officials said, as independent media was denied access to the area. The voting is seen as a test of popularity of President Mahinda Rajapakse after his crushing victory over the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels. Election officials said […]
Sri Lanka official says economic crisis generates debate on role of central banks
August 8, 2009 (LBO) – The current economic crisis has created a debate about the core role of a central bank, a senior Sri Lankan monetary official said, while the practice of central banking itself is under heavy fire in the United States. Some central banks in relatively stable economies now only have one core […]
Sri Lankan shares up 0.15-pct during week
Aug 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed marginally down Friday as investors waited for foreign investors to enter the market and showed no reaction to the capture of a wanted Tamil Tiger leader, brokers said. The benchmark Colombo All Share Price Index (ASPI) closed flat to end at 2,529.53, while the Milanka index […]
Box Business
Aug 07, 2009 (LBO) – Container volumes rose again in July 2009 at a Colombo port terminal partly owned by John Keells Holdings whose transportation business has been hit by the trade slump and loss of a ship fuel monopoly. Relatively low margin transhipment traffic accounts for a growing proportion of SAGT’s total throughput, they […]
Minimum Price
Aug 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run ports authority will seek a higher royalty from the sole bidder to operate a terminal at Colombo, while keeping open other options including re-tendering, an official said. The bid to build and operate a container terminal at an extension to Sri Lanka’s main port is half the […]
Bank Fortunes
Aug 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank said profits for the June quarter went up 20 percent to 449 million rupees from a year ago on higher interest margins, fee-based income and loan recoveries, despite a shrinking loan book. Sampath Bank said in a stock exchange filing that group interest income for the […]
Sri Lanka Keells Hotels halves losses
Aug 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s John Keells Hotels said it had halved losses in the June 2009 quarter to 150 million rupees from a year ago as tourists arrivals slumped with the global recession.But the continuing fall in arrivals, low occupancy levels and increased competition and capacity, could affect their performance in the […]
Sri Lank Aitken Spence eye war-torn areas for tourism
Aug 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence said it was eyeing tourism projects in the north and east of the island after the end of an internal conflict though group earnings dropped as arrivals slumped both at home and in the Maldives. “We are vigorously looking at opportunities in all sectors to partner […]