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Sri Lanka spends US$125mn defending rupee in December
Jan 19, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has spent 125 million US dollars defending the rupee in foreign exchange markets in December in a month that saw the rupee weaken at a faster rate, the latest data shows. The monetary base of the country (reserve money) was at 259 billion last week from 253 billion […]
Sri Lanka stocks rise on small investor enthusiasm
Jan 19, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares rose almost across the board Monday in a minor rally driven by small investors speculating that military gains against Tamil Tiger rebels and lower interest rates might revive the economy, brokers said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to […]
Travel Ban
Jan 19, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said it had won a court order impounding the passports of several officials of Okanda Finance Limited, an unlicensed finance company, to prevent them leaving the country. A bank statement said four of six organisations and individuals carrying on finance business without authority had failed to […]
Cairn India gets nod for new Indian field
Jan 19, 2009 (LBO) – Cairn India, which has won a license to explore for oil off Sri Lanka’s west coast, said it got Indian government approval to go ahead with the development of an oil field in north-west India. The company said it holds material exploration and production positions in west India and east […]
Sri Lanka troops find plane wreckage
January 19, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops have found the wreckage of an aircraft near an air strip captured from Tamil Tiger rebels in the north of the island, military officials said on Monday.The wreckage was found on Sunday in the jungles around Mullaittivu, the last stronghold of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam […]
‘s most wanted Tiger running out of options
January 19, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s top Tamil Tiger, who inspired hundreds of followers to stage suicide bombings in the fight for a separate state, is facing his biggest challenge yet and is fast running out of options. To his followers, Velupillai Prabhakaran is seen as a “Sun God” who formed a formidable and […]
Sri Lanka cricket feels squeeze as sponsors take flight
January 19, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s economic slowdown has taken its toll on the island’s hugely popular sport of cricket as long-term sponsor disappear, sports minister Gamini Lokuge said on Monday.During the three-month trial that ends on March 31, Sri Lanka will play two Tests and three one-day internationals in Pakistan and host India […]
Jayawardene plays down Mendis hype in Pakistan series
KARACHI, January 18, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene Sunday refused to single out spin sensation Ajantha Mendis as the major threat for Pakistan in the one-day series.The 23-year-old Mendis and his more illustrious partner Muttiah Muralitharan are tipped to hold the aces against the home team in the three-match series which starts […]
Hedge Exposure
Jan 19, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank said its exposure to an oil derivative sold through People’s Bank would be 21.6 million dollars with oil at 35 dollars a barrel, which the state-run bank has so far not honoured. The contract is one of several arranged for state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) by […]
Sri Lanka would not apply for IMF bailout: Central Bank
Jan 19, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said it would not apply for an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout or devalue the currency but would seek other means to shore up the island’s dwindling foreign reserves. A typical IMF package involves a clean float of the currency to stop further sterilized intervention and […]
Sri Lanka Tamil Tigers surrounded, rebel chief may have fled: army
January 18, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan government troops have almost completely cornered the Tamil Tigers in their northeastern jungle base and the rebels’ leader may have already fled the island, the army chief said.The Sri Lankan army chief, who narrowly escaped assassination in a Tamil Tiger suicide bombing in April 2005, said he hoped […]
” as Sri Lanka keeps up offensive
January 18, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers are threatened with “extinction” following a massive military drive against them, but a political solution will be crucial to end long-standing Tamil grievances, observers say. The Tigers’ de facto state in the north of the island has been crumbling rapidly.They lost their political capital Kilinochchi earlier […]