Category: Economy and Markets
‘s share market picks up on telecom deal
April 22, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks open higher with a 34 million share deal in Dialog Telekom that boosted turnover to 712.7 million rupees in early morning trading.Approximately 34,416,500 shares were traded at 16.50 rupees, brokers said. The deal went through in two ten million chunks, two 4.5 million and a five million […]
Sri Lanka stocks close higher; Dialog, AMW draw interest
April 22, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares edged higher with heavy trading in Dialog Telekom driving turnover past the billion rupee mark and vehicle agency Associated Motorways (AMW) rising sharply on speculative buying, brokers said. All Share price Index went up 10.08 points (0.38 percent) to 2,673.01 while the more liquid Milanka index fell […]
” of rice
April 21, 2008 (LBO) – An examination of futures prices show that there is no ‘shortage’ of rice, but government meddling in rice production and marketing is causing other negative fallouts, a top economist has said. Steve Hanke, from the Johns Hopkins University of Baltimore in the United States, says the term structure of Thai […]
Sri Lanka Telecom dominate Colombo share trading
April 21, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed lower Monday but turnover soared to over 3.5 billion rupees on several crossings of Sri Lanka Telecom and trades in Hotel Services (Ceylon), which owns a city hotel, brokers said. The All Share Price Index fell 8.90 points (0.33 percent) to 2,662.93 while the more liquid […]
Sri Lanka agriculture, construction workers earn less, services do better
April 21, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan agriculture and construction workers saw their earnings eroded by high inflation in 2007 for the second year running while public sector workers and the service sector saw real increases, the central bank said. ” . . . as experienced in the previous year, both the agriculture and construction […]
Sri Lanka price controls disrupt rice market: reports
April 20, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Zimbabwe-style price controls on rice have started to disrupt supplies threatening to turn what was simply a steep spike in domestic rice prices into a full blown crisis with actual rice ‘shortages’. . Last July Zimbabwe, a country with a history of money printing and 100,000 percent inflation […]
Sri Lanka rice price controls temporary: minister
April 20, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s price controls are temporary, until foreign rice stocks arrive at the end of the month and prices fall towards ceilings imposed by the government, a senior minister said. “Rangoon rice will arrive in Sri Lanka before the end of the month, then prices will fall,” consumer affairs minister […]
Sri Lanka Telecom stakes bought by GTH
April 17, 2008 (LBO) “Global Telecommunication Holdings (GTH), a Netherlands incorporated unit through which Malaysia’s UT group is trying to acquire control of Sri Lanka Telecom, has raised its stake in the telco, brokers said Thursday. GTH bought over 6.7 million shares of SLT at 49 rupees per share Thursday, CT Smith Stockbrokers, which bought […]
Sri Lanka Telecom, plantations drive share market higher
April 17, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s shares closed higher Thursday, driven by a large trade in market heavyweight Sri Lanka Telecom and interest in plantations stocks on anticipation of higher earnings owing to strong commodity prices, brokers said.The All Share price Index ended 24.08 points (0.91 percent) higher at 2,671.83 while the more liquid […]
Sri Lanka govt subsidies fuelling inflation: central bank
April 17, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank has said heavy government spending to subsidise fuel, electricity and fertiliser destabilises the economy, leads to waste and hurts the poor by eventually fuelling inflation. Regular domestic fuel price hikes in keeping with rises in global oil prices are needed, the bank said in its 2007 […]
‘s war, fiscal reversals, policy stance hit sovereign rating: S&P
April 16, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s internal war and a reversal in ‘tentative’ improvements in state finances had made the country less able to weather shocks, putting its credit rating at risk, the rating agency Standard & Poor’s said. The rating agency said debt ratios were above the average for the ‘B+’ rating awarded […]
Sri Lanka central bank decries over staffing of government sector
April 16, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has criticised the practice of ruling party politicians of stuffing the state sector with their supporters, saying such over staffing is not only wasteful but creates worker shortages in the private sector. It said in its annual report for 2007 that unemployment in the island was […]