Category: Economy and Markets
Sri Lankan stocks slide on forced selling
Nov 10, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed down Tuesday mainly on forced selling by retail investors trying to meet settlement commitments and minimize losses in margin trading on borrowed funds, brokers said. Political uncertainties generated by talk of elections and continued media coverage of alleged insider dealing by US hedge fund manager Raj […]
Sri Lanka trade unions reject government pay hike
Nov 10, 2009 (LBO) – Labour unions in several key state-owned utilities have rejected a government offer of a pay hike and said they would start a ‘work-to-rule’ from Wednesday that could slowdown economic activity. The joint trade unions of state refiner, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), National Water Board, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and port […]
Sri Lanka to keep lid on defence spending in 2010
Nov 09, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is planning to keep defence spending for 2010 at 2009 levels in rupee terms, and divert money spent on military activities to reconstruction, the government had told the International Monetary Fund. In a revised program document given to the IMF following the approval of a 329.4 million US […]
Sri Lanka needs stable foreign reserves: IMF
Nov 09, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka needs stable foreign reserves collected from current account transactions as ‘borrowed reserves’ flowing into Treasuries markets can flow out quickly, an International Monetary Fund official said.“Money has rolled right in and reserves are at a comfortable position,” IMF resident representative Koshi Mathai said. “There is a difference between […]
”: CB governor
Nov 09, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka rupee strengthened Monday at a time when the US dollar is weakening against most other currencies, and an ‘exact peg’ with the greenback may no longer be maintained, the Central Bank said. The rupee broke its customary 114.80 peg to the US dollar Monday when state banks […]
Gold price hits record high as dollar wanes
LONDON, November 9, 2009 (AFP) – Gold prices hit a record above 1,100 dollars on Monday with the dollar weakening after a pledge by G20 countries to keep economic recovery pumped up with easy money.In morning trading here, gold struck an all-time peak of 1,109.50 dollars an ounce as the euro rose to 1.50 dollars […]
Sri Lanka stocks fall again
Nov 09, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares fell Monday, failing to maintain Friday’s gains which interrupted a sharp slump in the market in recent days in which a downward slide was worsened by forced selling, brokers said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 The […]
South Asian broadband stuck in international bottleneck: study
CHENNAI, Nov 09, 2009 (LBO) – South Asian surfers get slower and less reliable broadband internet connections for every dollar spent despite compared to users in developed countries, despite ‘cheaper’ packages, researchers have found. “The US and Canada packages that we have tested are not too different to pricing to our ones but the difference […]
Sri Lanka passes IMF loan hurdle, despite failing fiscal target
Nov 07, 2009 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a 413.4 million US dollar tranche under its stand by loan, despite the government failing to meet a key budget constraint, the lender said. Under the original deal, a net international reserve target, which excluded borrowed reserves other than that of the IMF […]
Sri Lanka stocks rebound
Nov 06, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan share prices rebounded Friday after falling sharply in recent days with brokers saying better company earnings and falling interest rates likely to bring buyers back to the market. “Undisciplined trading practices may have contributed to the down trend.” The fall in interest rates and improved company earnings, and […]
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LONDON, November 6, 2009 (AFP) – The price of gold hit a record high above 1,100 dollars an ounce in trading here on Friday following a report that Sri Lanka had joined India in purchasing the precious metal in favour of the US currency. “The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has announced that it is […]
Sri Lanka central bank to relax exchange controls
Nov 05, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank is planning to relax exchange controls allowing up to 500,000 US dollars to be taken out for investment purposes without approval of the central bank, a media report said. Before the creation of the Central Bank in 1950, Sri Lanka had a currency board with an […]