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Sri Lanka July trade gap widens, tea boosts export earnings
Sept 17, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s export earnings in July 2008 went up 24. 1 percent to a record 849 million US dollars from a year ago, boosted by agricultural exports, especially tea, the central bank said Wednesday. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 […]
UK mortgage lender HBOS latest victim of financial crunch
LONDON, September 17, 2008 (AFP) – The global financial firestorm claimed a fresh victim Wednesday as top British mortgage lender HBOS said it was in takeover talks after a huge US bailout of insurer AIG helped underpin volatile share prices. “In the light of market speculation, the Board of HBOS plc confirms that it is […]
Gulf chiefs okay plans for monetary council, union
JEDDAH, September 17, 2008 (AFP) – Finance chiefs of oil-rich Gulf states on Wednesday approved proposals to set up a monetary council and a charter for a monetary union, the Arab bloc’s secretary general said. Finance and economy ministers of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council approved the monetary union charter and the council’s bylaws during […]
Barclays announces 1.75 bln dlr deal to buy Lehman parts
LONDON, September 17, 2008 (AFP) – Barclays said Wednesday it had reached a deal to acquire the North American investment banking and capital markets businesses of beleaguered US investment giant Lehman Brothers for 1.75 billion dollars. The bank said it would acquire trading assets with an estimated value of 72 billion dollars (40 billion pounds, […]
Dollar rallies after Fed decision to hold rates steady at 2.0-pct
NEW YORK, September 16, 2008 (AFP) – The dollar rallied against the other main currencies Tuesday after the Federal Reserve surprised the market by holding interest rates steady and defied expectations of a rate cut. The Fed decision to hold its base lending rate at 2.0 percent in the face of panic on the world […]
‘s tense north
September 16, 2008 (AFP) – The United Nations pulled its staff out of rebel-held areas in Sri Lanka’s north on Tuesday after the government refused to guarantee the safety of aid workers.Some 70,000 people have fled due to fighting in the past two months alone. The withdrawal came as the island’s government said it was […]
‘s Treasury chief leaves
Sept 17, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Treasury Secretary P B Jayasundera is leaving his position having completed preparatory work on the 2009 budget, a senior government official said.Jayasundera originally handed over his resignation shortly after a court order faulted him on a privatization deal, but it was not immediately accepted. An official said the […]
Sri Lanka stocks fall on blue chip losses
Sept 17, 2008 (LBO) – Share prices fell in Wednesday’s trading with the indices dragged down by falls in blue chips and confusion in the market over the pricing of Brown and Company after a share split and ‘bonus’ issue. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to […]
Sri Lanka economists to talk inflation at annual parley
Sept 17 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economists are debating inflation, competitiveness and growth this Friday and Saturday at a time when inflation has hit a historic record in the island and subsequent tight monetary policy has strengthened the rupee. “The extent of such gap in aggregate supply will depend on whether the economy is […]
Port Race
Sept 16, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is hoping to call fresh bids for a container terminal concession in an expanded port in Colombo in October, a government minister said, after an earlier bidding round was abandoned partway through the process. A breakwater to expand Colombo port is now being built with Asian Development Bank […]
Bus bomb explodes in Sri Lanka capital
Sept 16, 2008 (LBO) – A bomb placed in a commuter bus in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo exploded after vigilant passengers discovered a suspicious parcel and got off the bus, police said.The bus was passing through the capital’s plush Colombo 7 district, when the bomb was discovered. Passengers had dis-embarked when the bomb went off, […]
British inflation spikes to 4.7 percent in August
LONDON, September 16, 2008 (AFP) – British 12-month inflation hit a fresh 16-year high of 4.7 percent in August on the back of soaring domestic energy bills, official data showed. Britain’s economy experienced zero percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the second quarter, which was the country’s weakest performance for 16 years. Despite the […]