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US cuts rates; US, IMF open new liquidity windows
WASHINGTON, October 30, 2008 (AFP) – The US Federal Reserve sliced its key interest rate another 0.5 percentage points to 1.0 percent Wednesday as signs emerged of thawing credit markets around the world. The Fed’s expected action came after China also chopped its benchmark one-year deposit rate by 27 basis points to 3.60 in a […]
Sri Lanka private sector workers offered tax break to keep money in g-secs
Oct 29, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka said it will give a tax refund to private sector retirees if they continue to keep their money in government securities after they retire and withdraw money from a state-controlled fund. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Under […]
Sri Lanka shares held up by gains in large cap stocks
Oct 29, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares ended marginally firmer Wednesday, held up by gains in highly capitalized stocks, but sentiment remained weak as the outlook for economic and company growth was gloomy, brokers said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 The All Share […]
Cash Call
Oct 29, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank said in a stock exchange filing that it has called off a rights issue after shareholders voted against it at an extraordinary general meeting Wednesday. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 The one for four rights […]
Watching Brief
Oct 29, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s credit information bureau has got new powers to track utility bills, insurance and pension fund payments, under an amendment to its law passed in parliament. Credit Information Bureau (CRIB) officials said the legal amendments and modernisation of its information system will enable it to collect information on any […]
Net Billing
Oct 29, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan fixed access provider Lanka Bell said it would pay subscribers that receive overseas calls 50 cents a minute, setting the stage for competition in the incoming call business. Corporate users would also benefit substantially by making Lanka Bell their choice for incoming IDD calls, Samarasinghe said. Under an […]
Ex-political prisoner beats veteran Maldives leader: official
MALE, October 29, 2008 (AFP) – Ex-political prisoner Mohamed “Anni” Nasheed beat Asia’s longest serving leader, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, in the Maldives’ first democratic presidential election, official results showed Wednesday. The elections are the climax of an effort to bring political freedoms to the Indian Ocean archipelago in the wake of pro-democracy protests and international […]
Sri Lanka Tiger aircraft hit power station
Oct 29, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger guerrilla aircraft struck a key power station in the capital Colombo in a night raid, and bombed a military camp in the northeastern Mannar area, in two attacks Tuesday, officials said. Anti-aircraft fire lit up the night sky soon after power was cut to the capital. […]
Indonesian ex-central bank governor gets five years for graft
JAKARTA, October 29, 2008 (AFP) – A former governor of Indonesia’s central bank was sentenced to five years in jail and a relative of President Susilo Bambang was named a suspect Wednesday in a snowballing corruption scandal. Burhanuddin Abdullah was convicted in the anti-corruption court of embezzling 10.3 million dollars in bank funds to bribe […]
Thai crocs feel bite as financial woes dull taste for luxury goods
SAMUT PRAKAN, October 29, 2008 (AFP) – At the Elite Thai Leather factory in Bangkok, craftsman contort tough Thai crocodile hides into any style of luxury handbag a fashion designer wants. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Bright blue handbags made from the dyed rough […]
Melamine tainted egg scare spreads to Beijing
BEIJING, October 29, 2008 (AFP) – Supermarkets in Beijing stopped selling eggs from one of China’s major producers on Wednesday as fears about the toxic chemical melamine spread to the Chinese capital. The retailers acted after Hong Kong health authorities said they had detected melamine, which has killed four babies and sickened 53,000 in China, […]
Cheap crude may hit non-oil Arab states as inflows fall
DUBAI, October 28, 2008 (AFP) – Cheaper oil prices may damage the economies of non-oil producing Arab countries because of a fall in remittances and other cash inflows from the Gulf states, analysts said. Remittances sent home by migrant workers contributed three billion dollars or 20 percent of gross domestic product in Jordan last year, […]