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Sri Lanka can wipe out poverty in a generation with working policies: development economist
August 12, 2007 (LBO) – If market reforms and globalization that brought prosperity to Sri Lanka’s Western Province could be replicated countrywide, extreme poverty could be eliminated in a generation, a development economist said. Many economists had pointed out that Sri Lanka is held back by policy errors, despite being rich in human, natural resources […]
”, urged to change attitudes
August 13, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankans need to change attitudes that are holding the country back despite it being reasonably well endowed with human and natural resources, a top economic analyst has said. Anila Dias Bandaranaike, a former director of statistics at Central Bank who had gained widespread respect for her independent analysis of […]
Chip Block
August 11, 2007 (LBO) – HSBC, Sri Lanka’s largest credit card issuer, has announced new technology to combat fraud but said its local acquiring network would be upgraded only in the first quarter of next year.In addition to the standard magnet strip, the new ‘smart’ cards issued from this month would have an embedded micro-processor […]
” global economic system
PARIS, Aug 11, 2007 (AFP) – Newspapers worldwide fretted Saturday over the extent of the economic damage caused by contagion from US high-risk home loans after market turmoil spread across the globe.According to the paper, Bank of China and China Construction Bank, two of the country’s “big four” commercial banks, have said the crisis has […]
Global markets head down despite central banks printing billions in new cash
PARIS, Aug 11, 2007 (AFP) – US home loan woes caused more turmoil on world markets Friday despite the tens of billions of dollars released by central banks to stop the problem turning into a global economic crisis. A shortage of liquidity would restrict the ability of companies, and eventually consumers, to borrow, potentially slowing […]
Corruption costs Sri Lanka 2% economic growth: senior economist
August 11, 2007 (LBO) – Public sector corruption in Sri Lanka is a key factor driving poverty and the country is losing two percentage points of economic growth a year from resources lost to sleaze, a senior economist said. He said another key cause of poverty was inflation, which affected the poor most because their […]
Real Pros
Aug 10, 2007 (LBO) – One of Sri Lanka’s top professionals in the fast-growing telecommunications industry has advised his peers to stay in the island despite problems, saying developing economies have more change and opportunity. “The General System of Preferences (GSP) scheme the state achieved was due to our ethical corporate behavior and very good […]
Cyber Tea
August 10 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Tea Board has successfully completed the pilot run of an automated export document processing system that can speed up operations and has invited all exporters to get online. The system, designed and implemented by eServices Lanka, allows tea exporters to submit export documents for approval electronically without having to […]
Sri Lanka apparel industry urged to focus on consumer concerns
August 10, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan apparel exporters have been advised to focus attention on the industry’s impact on the environment or ‘footprint’ and the chemical composition of its products in response to rising European consumer demands. The industry’s decision to specialise in the manufacture of intimate wear, lingerie and underwear is paying off […]
Singapore central bank ready to intervene but says no need now
SINGAPORE, Aug 10, 2007 (AFP) – Singapore’s central bank is prepared to inject cash into the market to stabilise any fallout arising from problems in US subprime mortgages, an official said Friday. But Ong Chong Tee, deputy managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said there was no need to do so at […]
IMF warns Maldives against money printing as budget deficit skyrockets
August 10, 2007 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund warned the Indian Ocean tourist paradise of Maldives against money printing and dangers of a currency collapse as the country heads for a record budget deficit in 2007. Until 2004 when budget deficits started to rise the Maldives had low inflation and high economic growth and […]