Category: Economy and Markets
Sri Lanka on alert for swine flu
April 28, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s airports and hospitals have been put on alert for swine flu, a health official said Tuesday. “The country has been put on alert for a possible outbreak of swine influenza,” said Paba Palihawadana, the chief epidemiologist at the state-run epidemiology unit. Surgical masks and medicines have been distributed […]
Sri Lanka stocks open up, rupee steady
April 27, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka rupee opened at 120.10/40 against the spot dollar Monday dealers said, while stocks opened 0.46 percent up, following week of strong gains. Seylan Bank, of which 33 percent is being sold to a strategic partner by the Central Bank opened up 1.00 rupees at 39.75. Sampath opened […]
Sri Lankan stocks dip, rupee steady against dollar
Apr 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka shares shed some of last week’s gains to close down across the board Monday due to profit taking, as the rupee remained steady against the dollar, brokers and traders said. Conglomerate John Keells Holdings, which has interests in transport, finance, property development, retail and food processing sectors, gained […]
Sri Lanka judge to head revenue office
April 26, 2009 (LBO) – A judge of Sri Lanka’s Court of Appeal who has been appointed to head the island’s revenue office will continue to hold both offices, while the existing revenue chief would be moved to the finance ministry, media reports said. The current tax chief S Angammana, had been moved to the […]
‘s gold reserves top 1,000 tonnes: state media
BEIJING, April 25, 2009 (AFP) – China’s gold reserves rose 75 percent from 2003 to 2008, state media said, reporting that Beijing now had the world’s fifth largest holdings of the precious metal.China had 1,054 tonnes of gold by the end of 2008, up 454 tonnes from the 600 tonnes that it said it had […]
Sri Lanka rupee steady after volatile week
April 24, 2009 (LBO) – The rupee weakened to 120.70 levels against the US dollar, with a foreign bank on the buying side Friday, but recovered later in the day ending a week that saw the domestic currency fall about four rupees, dealers said. In late afternoon trade the spot dollar was quoted at 120.0/30 […]
Sri Lankan stocks up 6.9-pct over week
Apr 24, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed up 1.94 percent on military gains Friday, amid optimistic sentiment among local investors which pushed the market up 6.9 percent over the week, brokers said. Almost 1.5 million shares of Tokyo Cement non-voting shares changed hands at 10.25 foreign to local, in what seemed to be […]
Sri Lanka converts state dollar loans to bonds
April 23, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has converted hundreds of millions of dollar denominated loans from state banks in a move that will improve the transparency of government debt and make them marketable, an official said. The bonds could now be offered to any investor when they are rolled over increasing access and state […]
Sri Lankan stocks gain on bullish sentiment
April 23, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka stocks rose across the board Thursday on mostly retail buying, with the main index up 1.82 percent, spurred by rate cuts but the rupee weakened below 120 against the dollar in the spot markets, dealers said. The rupee weakened to be quoted as low as 120.65/90 before recovering […]
Sri Lanka rupee dips below 120.0 to the dollar
April 23, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka rupee weakened below the psychological 120.00 level against the US dollar in spot trade to 120.80 before recovering, as the local currency continued float freely, dealers said. The rupee fall come amidst a collapse in import volumes and an unprecedented contraction in the trade deficit. The rupee […]
Sri Lanka Treasury bill yields fall after rate cut
April 22, 2009 (LBO) – Yields at the weekly Treasury bill auction plunged across the board with the 12-month yield falling 100 basis points to 15.40 percent, the government’s debt office said, after a 175 basis point rate cut earlier in the day.The 6-month yield fell 98 basis points to 14.90 percent and the 3-month […]
Sri Lanka cuts rates by 175bp to boost lending
April 22, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has cut its de facto signal policy rate by 175 basis points to 13.0 percent to spur lending as credit to the private sector fell 5.6 percent in February, and trimmed the repo rate to discourage excess reserves. The rate cuts come as the rupee is […]