Category: Industry
‘t Open
July 06, 2007 (LBO) – Opening up Sri Lanka’s electricity sector to foreign competition under international free trade rules that are being negotiated could be dangerous, a senior engineer has warned. Commitments Sri Lanka might make under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), a multinational agreement covering trade in services, could be irrevocable, […]
Bangladesh go down fighting as Sri Lanka clinch series
July 5, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka saw off a record stand between two young Bangladesh batsmen to win the second cricket Test by an innings and 90 runs with two days to spare on Thursday. Bangladesh, trailing by 389 runs in the first innings, were bowled out for 299 in the final session of […]
Tech Tour
July 06, 2007 (LBO) – A delegation from Sri Lanka’s information technology companies will attend the IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) summit in India to gain insights on developing the trade, Sri Lanka’s ICT Agency said. ICTA – a state agency – plans to lead the delegation to the NASSCOM IT-BPO Strategy Summit 2007 […]
Workers Money
July 06, 2007 (LBO) – The managers of Sri Lanka’s largest private sector retirement fund have responded to criticism that its money is being used to fund government expenses, saying funds are invested under professional advice. “The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in […]
Hard Drive
July 06, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC) says is aggressively chasing the motor insurance sector, an official said. SLIC says its overall premium is showing a growth of about 30 percent with the last two quarters as a result of adopting aggressive marketing techniques. “New blood has given life to the products […]
Smooth Payments
July 06, 2007 (LBO) – South Asian countries need to modernise their payments systems to cope with rapidly increasing cross border trade and investment flows trigged by faster economic growth, a senior central banker said Friday. “Trade and investment flows and demand for financial services will exceed the present levels over the next couple of […]
No Deal
July 05, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s construction industry has successfully lobbied the government to defer the liberalisation of construction and related services under a free trade deal with India, an official said. The industry is not wholly against the idea of liberalising services but wants to protect local players until they are ready to […]
Joint Effort
July 05, 2007 (LBO) – Senior officials from South Asian central and commercial banks will meet in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo Friday to discuss the setting up of a regional payment system, the country’s central bank said. Officials of regional central banks as well as the World Bank and Bank for International Settlements are […]
Finance Probe
July 05, 2007 (LBO) – A presidential commission of inquiry probing the collapse of a string of finance companies in Sri Lanka has begun questioning Central Bank officials. The four-member commission comprising of senior legal and finance experts commenced sittings on July 2 and will hold its next sessions on July 6 and 13. The […]
Retail Collection
July 05, 2007 (LBO) – HSBC has tied up with Singer Sri Lanka, a household durables firm, to use its network of outlets to collects payments for credit card bill payments for cardholders outside the capital. HSBC customers can use 162 Singer outlets throughout the island to pay settle their bills. “Our intention was to […]
Debt Capital
July 04, 2007 (LBO) – Sampath Bank has completed a debenture issue to raise 250 million rupees, the bank told the Colombo Stock Exchange. The money will strengthen the bank’s tier II capital base. The bank has a double AA- (lka) national long term rating from Fitch Ratings Lanka. Its debentures have previously been rated […]
Passing Bucks
July 04, 2007 (LBO) — Sri Lanka’s state-run oil firm Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has asked the treasury to pick up a six billion rupee subsidy tab for selling fuel to the Ceylon Electricity Board at a steep discount, officials said Wednesday. The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), currently buys fuel at 55 rupees a litre from […]