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WASHINGTON, October 26, 2008 (AFP) – The head of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn announced on Sunday that a “substantial financing package” would be announced for Hungary in the next few days. “An IMF staff mission and the Hungarian authorities, in close consultation with the EU, have reached broad agreement on a set of […]
IMF gets new business as central banks lose reserves on intervention mistakes
WASHINGTON, October 26, 2008 (AFP) – Ukraine, facing political deadlock and an economic crisis, agreed a 16.5-billion-dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund on Sunday. The deal, announced by IMF director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, followed a 2. 1-billion-dollar loan to Iceland on Friday and comes amid appeals for help from other countries. “An IMF staff mission […]
Merchant Sailors
MANILA, October 26, 2008 (AFP) – Amid dire predictions that trade will slow next year due to the global financial crisis, hundreds of Filipino seamen still gather in downtown Manila everyday to scan the positions vacant notices. Wilfredo Narte, a 66-year-old Filipino sailor, has seen it all before as he walks past a group of […]
Sri Lanka mulls emergency loans to get tea auction moving
Oct 26, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government will guarantee loans from banks to the tea trade to revive the Colombo auctions where prices have plunged and half the teas remained unsold this week, industry officials said.The industry was also considering extending the time limit for settling cash payments for the sale of tea don […]
Sri Lanka reassures India over Tamils
NEW DELHI, October 26, 2008 (AFP) – A senior Sri Lankan minister on Sunday held talks with the Indian foreign minister over the safety of the island nation’s minority Tamils as its conflict with Tamil Tiger rebels escalates. Sri Lanka’s Tamils share close cultural and religious links with the 55 million Tamils in the southern […]
Sri Lanka exchange rate pressured; fuel taxes can reduce fiscal ills: economist
Oct 26, 2008 (LBO) – Despite falling oil prices, Sri Lanka is now in the midst of a balance of payments problem brought about by central bank interventions in forex markets, whose full effects are yet to be seen. Q: Now with the credit crunch we have seen a lot of commodity prices coming down […]
Sri Lanka small holders hit by credit crunch as prices collapse
Oct 25, 2008 (LBO) – In Sri Lanka’s deep south, small tea farmers are feeling the pinch from a collapsing commodity bubble, as a worldwide meldown of financial and asset prices gathers momentum on a long expected deflationary collapse. The brokers are running a sophisticated finance business, managing the risk of independent factories and effectively […]
Two Sides
Oct 25, 2008 (LBO) – The global economic crisis may reduce information technology outsource work for companies in Sri Lanka but at the same time generate new business opportunities, a top Sri Lankan software firm said.“So in the last two years the volumes increased 20 fold.” He said this massive rise in stock market activity […]
Sri Lanka troops advance into Tiger territory: military
October 25, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka troops were locked in heavy combat with Tamil Tiger guerrillas in the island’s north where soldiers made several advances into rebel-held territory, the defence ministry said Saturday.Two separate confrontations were reported southwest of the Tamil Tiger political capital of Kilinochchi on Friday and sporadic fighting continued afterward, the […]
World leaders call for reform as markets overpower paper central banks, govts.
BEIJING, October 25, 2008 (AFP) – World leaders vowed Saturday to overhaul the global financial system in the face of recession fears, but US President George W.Bush urged nations to “recommit” to free markets despite economic turmoil. After a week of growing economic gloom and plunging stock markets, Asian and European leaders meeting in Beijing […]
‘s Jet Airways flies into Q2 losses
MUMBAI, October 25, 2008 (AFP) – Jet Airways, India’s biggest domestic airline, reported Saturday a second-quarter net loss from a profit in the same period a year earlier, hit by rising fuel costs and fewer passengers.The airline posted a net loss of 3.84 billion rupees (80 million dollars) after announcing a profit of 283.6 million […]
Methanol laced hooch kills in Vietnam
HANOI, October 25, 2008 (AFP) – At least 11 Vietnamese men have died after drinking suspect alcohol in Ho Chi Minh City over the past month, state media said Saturday. The latest death was a 44-year-old man, who had been hospitalised Wednesday and died Friday, the Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper said. The paper quoted […]