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APEC leaders push global free trade; North Korea crisis unresolved
HANOI, Nov 18, 2006 (AFP) – Asia-Pacific leaders on Saturday put their political muscle behind the drive to free up global trade, but they struggled to find common ground on how best to tackle the North Korea nuclear crisis.The quest for consensus over the response to Pyongyang’s shock atom bomb test last month dominated both […]
Sea battle in Sri Lanka; seven killed in mine blast
Nov 18, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s navy and Tamil Tiger rebels Saturday claimed they had sunk each others’ craft in a sea battle off the northwestern coast as seven people were killed following a mine blast elsewhere. The island’s northeastern seaboard is a vital supply route for security forces and civilians in Jaffna. The […]
Central Bank of Sri Lanka growth numbers get thumbs-up in online poll
November 18 (LBO) – An online poll shows that more LBO readers believe the economic growth numbers generated by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka than the Department of Census and Statistics, but a vast majority disbelieved both. The Central Bank data set has a slightly higher weight for agriculture, as a result the two […]
Sri Lanka plans 9.1 percent budget deficit in 2007
November 16, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is expecting a 9.1 percent budget deficit in 2007, with the revised budget deficit for 2006 being estimated at 8.7 percent of GDP. Sri Lanka’s Central Bank is estimating the debt to GDP ratio to fall to 91.5 percent from 93.9 percent by year end. For the second […]
‘s record deficit
Nov 17, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is set to borrow heavily abroad and at home in a bid to finance a record 2.18 billion dollar budget deficit next year, official figures showed Friday. The overall budget deficit for 2007 was estimated at 7.2 percent of Gross Domestic Product while the government revised the 2006 […]
” banks after two year experiment
Nov 17, 2006 (LBO) – After creating two new state banks in successive budgets, Sri Lanka’s government is planning to merge and consolidate them with a network of existing rural banks. Sri Lanka already has two development banks, as well as medium term credit facilities that are channeled through commercial banks.The SME Bank was created […]
Safety Net
November 17, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka said Thursday they were exploring the possibility of setting up a 40 million dollar government guaranteed fund with World Bank assistance, to encourage private investment in the war torn north and east, officials said. Mooted under the Multilateral Investment Guaranty Agency or MIGA arm of the World Bank, […]
Sonia Gandhi outlines vision of future Indian superpower
NEW DELHI, Nov 17, 2006 (AFP) – Ruling Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi on Friday outlined her vision of India’s future, not as a traditional military superpower, but as a force for world peace and prosperity.The Italian-born Congress leader, who spurned the premiership after her party scored an upset election victory in 2004, urged the […]
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SINGAPORE, Nov 17, 2006 (AFP) – US beverage giant Coca-Cola Company, in a long-term plan to diversify from soft drinks, will serve coffee and tea-making expertise from its first Asian specialty outlet, company executives said Friday. He described the concept as “pretty much a work in progress for the next six months.” – by Bernice […]
Legendary monetary economist Milton Friedman dies
WASHINGTON, Nov 16, 2006 (AFP) – Nobel prize-winning economist Milton Friedman, whose ideas helped power a conservative policy revolution in the 1980s, died Thursday at the age of 94.Friedman died of heart failure in San Francisco, California, near Stanford University where he taught most recently, friends and associates said. Friedman won the Nobel prize for […]
Sri Lanka says 18 Tigers killed in fresh skirmishes
Nov 17, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops killed at least 18 Tamil Tiger guerrillas in three separate confrontations in a restive eastern province, the defence ministry said Friday. An upsurge in fighting in the past year in the island’s separatist conflict has claimed more than 3,300 lives. The clashes were in the district of […]
’s customs coffers to fill, despite tax breaks in budget
Nov 17 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Customs says it will shore up revenues to 240 billion rupees next year, despite a host of import duty waivers in the country’s latest budget. Full Coffers Meanwhile, the Inland Revenue Department’s tax revenue’s have also grown on improved collections and is expected to reach 260 billion rupees this […]