Sri Lanka rating agency warns of real estate market downturn

Oct 23, 2007 (LBO) – Lanka Rating Agency has warned of a possible slump in the property market which has been growing rapidly in recent years and shows signs of a classic ‘bubble’. LRA said that real estate markets are vulnerable to “waves of optimism and herd behaviour that result in bubbles.” It said in […]

” mix in minutes

Oct 22, 2007 (LBO) – A two tonne ‘kottu roti’ pancake mix prepared by Hilton Hotel in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo was devoured in just an hour by hundreds of guests at its anniversary party Sunday. Colombo Hilton’s ‘Kottu Party’ got more than double the expected crowd forcing chefs to go into emergency mode […]

WASHINGTON, Oct 22, 2007 (AFP) – The head of the International Monetary Fund, Rodrigo Rato, warned Monday there are risks of an “abrupt fall” in the dollar, linked to a loss of confidence in dollar assets.“There are risks that an abrupt fall in the dollar could either be triggered by, or itself trigger, a loss […]

US subprime crisis “an accident waiting to happen”: Greenspan

WASHINGTON , Oct 21, 2007 (AFP) – The financial turmoil that erupted earlier this year in the US subprime housing market was “an accident waiting to happen” and could have taken place in any other sector, former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said here Sunday.“Credit spreads across all global asset classes had become compressed to […]

Dollar hits record low against euro after G7 meeting

TOKYO, Oct 22, 2007 (AFP) – The dollar suffered fresh losses in Asian trade Monday, hitting a record low against the euro after US share prices slumped and world finance chiefs refrained from voicing increased concern about currencies. Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven industrialised nations on Friday only reiterated that […]

Sri Lanka rebel suicide squad, planes hit air base

Oct 22, 2007 (AFP) – An elite Tamil Tiger suicide squad backed by light aircraft on Monday attacked a key Sri Lankan military base in an unprecedented ground and air assault, killing at least five soldiers. The rebels said 21 members of their “Black Tiger” unit and two light aircraft struck the Anuradhapura air base […]

Sri Lankan Tiger attack casualties mount

Oct 22, 2007 (LBO) – Up to nine Sri Lankan servicemen and 20 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed during the Tiger air and ground attack on the Anuradhapura Sri Lanka Air Force airbase in the early hours of Monday, military officials said Two Mi-24 air force attack helicopters were badly damaged in the Tiger attack […]

Sri Lanka rebels say suicide unit used in attack

Oct 22, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels said Monday they had used members of an elite suicide squad to stage their first-ever coordinated ground and air assault against a key military base.Military sources said the bigger loss for the security forces apart from the fatalities was the destruction of a Beechcraft aircraft […]

Sri Lanka Tiger air, land attack kills five

Oct 22, 2007 (AFP) – Five Sri Lankan airmen were killed as Tamil Tiger rebels launched an unprecedented air and land attack on a northern military base, officials and a pro-rebel website said on Monday.A 2002 truce brokered by Norway began to unravel in December 2005 and since then, thousands of people have killed and […]

Sri Lankan exports slow down in August

Oct 22, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exports slowed down in August 2007 but cumulative higher export growth over imports helped narrow the trade deficit for the first eight months of the year, the Central Bank said Monday. It said in a statement on the island’s external trade performance that higher growth of exports over […]

Sri Lanka in new IFC bond index and fund

WASHINGTON, Oct 22 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has been included in a new World Bank backed initiative to expand the international appeal of local currency bonds of emerging countries. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private sector financing arm, and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) which finances middle income […]

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