Category: Economy and Markets
Sri Lanka shares end firmer
March 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares ended firmer Friday with the indices pushed up by gains in John Keells Holdings, Distilleries and also Seylan Bank, in which a controlling stake was offered for sale by the central bank, brokers said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and […]
Sri Lanka rupee weakens in volatile trade
Mar 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka rupee fell to 115.35/50 levels against the greenback in intra-day trading Friday with heavy buying from foreign banks while the monetary authority briefly took the foot off peg defence, dealers said. The rupee hit a low of 115.75 against the greenback when peg defence was eased amidst heavy […]
Sri Lanka share trading boosted by Carson oil palm deals
March 26, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares ended almost flat Thursday but turnover was pushed up to 915 million rupees by large transactions in three oil palm companies of the Carson Cumberbatch group, brokers said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 The All Share […]
Sri Lanka state enterprises a big burden: minister
March 25, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan state enterprises come begging to the Treasury for money to pay staff salaries, instead of making profits and contributing to national development, a senior government minister said.“One of the strange functions as the minister of finance in Sri Lanka is to handout checks at the end of the […]
Sri Lankan shares up on JKH deal
Mar 25, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks ended higher Wednesday, pushed up after a foreign investment fund divested a five percent stake in the island’s biggest conglomerate John Keells Holdings (JKH) to a local insurance company, brokers said. The All Share Price Index gained 0.72 percent (11.75 points) to end at 1,637.23 while the […]
Sri Lanka injects Rs19.4bn through term auction; bill yields plunge
Mar 25, 2009 (LBO) – Yields of treasury bills fell across the board at Wednesday’s auction as the Central Bank injected 19 billion rupees through its new term auction facility on the back of earlier rate cuts, dealers said.The 3-month average auction yield fell 32 basis points to 14.62 percent, the 6-month yield fell 31 […]
Sri Lankan underweight bread fools consumer minister
Mar 24, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s minister of consumer affairs has admitted being fooled by crafty bakers who sell underweight bread and exploit consumers. Consumer affairs minister Bandula Gunawardena called on bakers to stick to a certain standard when making bread. According to an investigation carried out by the consumer affairs authority most of […]
Sri Lanka shares end weaker
March 24, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares ended slightly weaker Tuesday with a single Sampath Bank block of 744,155 shares traded at 65.75 rupees accounting for almost half the day’s turnover, brokers said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 The All Share Price Index […]
‘s economic troubles mostly home brewed: economists
Mar 22, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s current balance of payments troubles are mostly home brewed and an expected return to an International Money Fund bailout is simply a new cycle in a long history of economic mismanagement, economists said.“This is a home brewed macro economic crisis,” Razeen Sally from the London School of Economics, […]
Sri Lanka central bank in bid to push credit
Mar 21, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has asked banks to lend to the private sector amidst a peg defence exercise that has created a liquidity crunch, heavy state borrowing and banks that are wary of rising bad loans. The central bank said it had cut its de facto main policy signal rate, […]
Sri Lanka shares slide
March 20, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares ended slightly weaker Friday, dragged down by heavyweights, in thin trade with conglomerate John Keells Holdings ending firmer after its AAA rating was confirmed, brokers said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 The All Share Price Index […]
Sri Lankan shares revived by rate cut
Mar 19, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed up Thursday for the second day running amidst foreign selling in conglomerate John Keells Holdings (JKH) as local investors snapped up shares following an interest rate cut, brokers said. The All Share Price Index was up 0.45 percent (7.21 points) to end at 1,626.05 while the […]