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Sri Lanka central bank urges curbs on state recruitment
April 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has urged the government to curb recruitment into the hugely over-staffed and inefficient state sector, given the difficulties caused by economic slowdown.The government has said it expects growth to be boosted by an economic revival in the north and east, which has been cleared of Tamil […]
Sri Lanka firms get no relief in tax refund delays
April 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s cash-strapped government has been unable to offer relief to the private sector over lengthy delays in getting value-added tax (VAT) refunds.Private sector officials said companies were facing cash-flow problems owing to the delays in VAT refunds on the part of the Inland Revenue Department. Tax department officials said […]
Green Commerce
April 07, 2009 (LBO) – New technology that allows multiple telecom services to be delivered over a single network can sharply lower costs and make commerce greener, Hans Wijayasuriya, the head of Sri Lanka’s biggest mobile firm said. Wijayasuriya was addressing a Next Generation Networks (NGN) standardization forum in Colombo organised by the Telecommunications Regulatory […]
Telco Trim
April 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s top celco, Dialog Telekom says it had offered a voluntary retirement scheme to employees as part of a broader cost-cutting exercise, but the total costs were not known as yet. Dialog Telekom, a unit of Telekom Malaysia, as well as other operators have had revenues and profits hit […]
Sri Lankan stocks close up
Apr 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed up on Monday, driven by index-heavy Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) which moved up on speculation of a possible sell-down of a government stake in it, brokers said. Diversified Hayleys gained 2.50 rupees to close at 89.50. Chevron Lubricants gained 2.75 rupees to close at 109.75. The […]
Sri Lanka truce urgent, says Britain
April 07, 2009 (LBO) – Britain has renewed its call for a humanitarian ceasefire in Sri Lanka and urged Tamil Tiger rebels to release civilians being held as a human shield. Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, has commented on the situation in Sri Lanka following worrying reports of fighting in civilian concentrated areas within the country, […]
Reducing roaming rates; making South Asian regional integration real
Apr 07, 2009 (LBO) – In 2006, Zain Africa took a step that led to the abolition of roaming charges and made a significant contribution to economic integration of the East African region.They did more for making the East African Community real than several meetings of government leaders and officials combined. Integration in practice Economic […]
Scuffles as British police end all-night Tamil demo
LONDON, April 7, 2009 (AFP) – British police moved in Tuesday to end an overnight protest by Tamils over alleged rights abuses in Sri Lanka, triggering brief scuffles, an AFP reporter said. Four lifeboats were scrambled after some of the protestors reportedly threatened to throw themselves into the nearby River Thames. One person did enter […]
Sri Lanka to lose aid from Netherlands: report
April 07, 2009 (LBO) – The Netherlands will stop giving aid to Sri Lanka due to an internal conflict, ending a longstanding partnership which had given 30 to 40 million Euros each year to the island, a media report said. A web report of the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Sinhala Service said the Netherlands government had […]
Sri Lanka has space for monetary easing: Central Bank
April 07, (LBO) – Sri Lanka has space for easing policy with inflation coming down, Central Bank governor Nivard Cabraal said, as the monetary authority sounded strong warnings against runaway government spending.“What we like to say is when inflation comes down there is more space to relax monetary,” Cabraal told reporters Monday.“We cannot give amounts […]
Sri Lanka urged to go slow on big projects
April 06, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should go slow on big projects because of funds shortages in order to be able to better cope with the economic slowdown this year, the central bank said. “Financial flows to the government and the private sectors are likely to decline in 2009 and recover gradually thereafter,” the […]
Sri Lanka rupee has greater space for market determination: CB Governor
April 06, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan Central Bank governor Nivard Cabraal said there was greater space for markets to determine the exchange rate, as the country heads for an International Monetary Fund bailout. The Central Bank lost more than two thirds of its reserve trying to defend a peg with the US dollar from […]