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Sri Lanka troops claim 32 Tigers killed
March 13, 2009 (AFP) – At least 32 Tamil Tiger rebels have died in the latest push by Sri Lankan government troops into the rebels’ shrinking fiefdom, the island’s defence ministry said Friday.It has rejected calls for another truce, saying troops now have the upper hand in the decades-old conflict and are close to crushing […]
Sri Lanka HNB Assurance profit up
March 13, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s HNB Assurance said after tax profit rose 33 percent to 164.5 million rupees in 2008 from a year ago in what was a difficult period for business, helped by investment income from government bonds.Premium rates continued to fall in General Insurance, eroding margins to an unacceptable level, managing […]
Economic stimulus package for recessions
Mar 13, 2009 (LBO) – The economic recession that began to plague the entire globe was the salient feature of the world economy during the period from 2007. Almost all the developed countries responded to the wide-spread recession by offering numerous stimulus packages funded by governments or the central banks. The recovery of the economy […]
ECB to review investor strategy after Stanford fiasco
LONDON, March 13, 2009 (AFP) – The England and Wales Cricket Board are to review the manner in which they assess potential investors following the collapse of their deal with controversial financier Allen Stanford.The ECB came in for heavy criticism after Stanford was implicated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in a multi-billion dollar […]
New economics column on LBO, by top economist
March 13, 2009 (LBO) – Today Lanka Business Online is starting a new column by one of Sri Lanka’s most senior and well-known economists, who has practiced, taught and written on economics for more than 35 years. The column is published in the Sinhala language under the title Balumgala in www.vimasuma.com The column ‘WatchTower’ by […]
Sri Lankan stocks close down
Mar 12, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks continued to fall in thin trade Thursday as fears the ethnic war could drag on longer than thought added to concerns over poor company earnings, brokers said. The All Share Price Index edged down 0.22 percent (3.66 points) to end at 1,634.25 while the more liquid Milanka […]
Late Justice
ROME, March 11, 2009 (AFP) – An appeals court in southern Italy sentenced a Pakistani shipowner to 30 years in prison for his role in the drowning deaths of 283 illegal immigrants more than a decade ago, ANSA reported Wednesday.Maltese resident Ahmed Sheik Turab, 48, was considered the organiser of a 1996 sea journey of […]
Payment Plan
Mar 12, (LBO) – Prosecutors, customers and officials of Sri Lanka’s failed Golden Key Credit Card Company of the Ceylinco group are to discuss a trust arrangement to sell assets to generate cash, after court ordered a halt to assets sales of the company and subsidiaries. Bail He wanted Kotelawala to be released on bail […]
Good Year
Mar12, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank group has posted a profit of 1.49 billion rupees for the 2008 financial year, up 30 percent from 2007, in what its senior management called a tough year to operate in. During 2008 Sampath’s interest income had jumped by 30.1 percent to 19.4 billion, while interest expenses […]
Sri Lanka tourist arrivals fall 15.7-pct in February 2009
Mar 12, 2009 (LBO) – Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka fell 15.7 percent in February to 34,169 with the first two months of 2009 showing a 25.5 percent fall, and visitors from India halving, the country’s tourism promotion office said. East Asian arrivals dropped 28.4 percent to 3,153. Japan dropped 8.3 percent to 867 and […]
Battered Pakistan tourism industry looks to Sri Lanka example
KARACHI, March 12, 2009 (AFP) – Fida Hussain, 52, was once a frequent visitor to Pakistan’s scenic northwest, driving north into the mountains every time he flew over from the United States.But not any more. “I won’t go to Swat or any other place in the area as the Taliban rule there now and no […]
Cricket Impresario
WASHINGTON, March 11, 2009 (AFP) – Cricket mogul and financier Allen Stanford is refusing to cooperate with authorities investigating his role in an alleged multibillion-dollar fraud, court documents showed Wednesday. The Texas magnate who faces civil charges linked to luring investors into 9.2 billion dollars in securities under fraudulent pretenses, is using his constitutional guarantee […]