Category:
Dollar hits 12-year low vs yen, euro sets new record
TOKYO, March 13, 2008 (AFP) – The dollar slumped to a 12-year low against the yen and to a new all-time nadir versus the euro in Asian trade Thursday as traders bet on a hefty cut to US interest rates next week, dealers said. It is “only a matter of time before the dollar tests […]
Oil prices burst record 110 dollars as Fed printing weakens dollar
NEW YORK, March 12, 2008 (AFP) – Rocketing oil prices broke through 110 dollars per barrel for the first time in New York on Wednesday continuing a record run amid supply concerns and fevered market speculation.OPEC is under intense pressure from the United States to increase its production but declined to do so again as […]
”’ in global credit crisis
WASHINGTON, March 12, 2008 (AFP) – The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday warned authorities worldwide to “think the unthinkable” in planning to cope with a mounting crisis in the global financial system.John Lipsky, IMF first deputy managing director, called for “decisive policy action” amid a credit crunch that stems from the US real estate meltdown […]
No Hike
March 13, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s petroleum utility will not raise retail fuel prices at least until the traditional April Sinhala and Hindu New Year festival, despite record crude oil prices, petroleum minister A H M Fowzie said. The state-owned petroleum utility Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) will use profits from overcharging hapless petrol uses […]
Sri Lanka sells bills over auction offer; rates steady
Mar 12, 2008 (LBO) — Sri Lanka sold 10.8 billion rupees of Treasury bills at an auction Wednesday without moving rates up, the government’s debt office data showed, but it was later offering more bills at average rates, dealers said.However, analysts say in the past excess liquidity had been inflationary in Sri Lanka due to […]
Niche Strategy
March 12, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s high inflation, which is shrinking the incomes of consumers, should be reduced to promote economic activity, a top consumer durables firm which is feeling the pinch of rising prices has said. Singer Sri Lanka is targeting high-end customers as the country’s mass market turned sluggish in the face […]
Changing Skyline
March 12, 2008 (LBO) – An Indian property developer has inked a deal with Sri Lanka’s investment promotion agency to get tax concessions for an apartment complex in a Colombo suburb. However the interest rate structure started to get corrected last year following tighter monetary policy by the central bank, making less money available for […]
Parliament votes down Japanese central bank governor nominee
TOKYO, March 12, 2008 (AFP) – Japanese opposition lawmakers Wednesday voted down Bank of Japan deputy Toshiro Muto as the next central bank chief, defying the government which refused to look for a new candidate.Relations between the two main parties have been severely strained by a string of disputes culminating in the ruling coalition ramming […]
US fires at rights abuses in Asia, Sri Lanka; China dropped from worst list
WASHINGTON, March 11, 2008 (AFP) – The United States ranked North Korea and Myanmar Tuesday among the world’s worst violators of human rights and took other Asian countries to task for alleged abuses.In Australia, the report mentioned “domestic violence against women and children, particularly in Aboriginal communities, and societal discrimination against Aboriginal people.” But the […]
Global stocks surge on Fed moves to lend against junk bonds
NEW YORK, March 11, 2008 (AFP) – World stocks broke out of their slump with a powerful rally Tuesday as the US and other central banks moved to pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the financial system to ease a global credit squeeze. The announcement helped lift the malaise in equity markets, which had […]
Obama wins Mississippi primary
BILOXI, Mississippi, March 11, 2008 (AFP) – Barack Obama won Tuesday’s Democratic primary in the southern state of Mississippi, racking up another victory over Hillary Clinton in the party’s bitter White House race.The Illinois senator’s camp demanded she be ousted from the campaign, while Clinton said she regretted the remarks but did not cut Ferraro, […]
Sri Lanka says 28 more Tigers killed in fresh fighting
March 11, 2008 (AFP) – At least another 28 Tamil Tiger rebels have been killed by security forces in fresh fighting across Sri Lanka’s embattled north, the defence ministry said Wednesday.More than 60,000 people have been killed in the separatist conflict which erupted in 1972.The overnight clashes were in the districts of Jaffna, Vavuniya and […]