Category: Industry
Soft Landing
December 12, 2006 (LBO) – Lanka Bell, one of Sri Lanka’s privately held wireless telecom operators, has tied up with India’s FLAG Telecom to lay an undersea cable linking both countries. FLAG owns and manages an extensive optical fibre network spanning four continents and connecting key business markets in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and […]
Ceylon Exposure
November 12, (LBO) – The Bank of Ceylon has given 43.7 percent of its loans to the government and state-owned enterprises, and its exposure to government would remain high or even increase, Fitch Ratings Lanka said Tuesday, as it affirmed the bank’s AA (lka) rating.“Furthermore such exposures also increase the linkage to the state’s financial […]
New Chapter
December 11, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Telecom, is spinning off its directory publication division as a wholly owned subsidiary, the island’s biggest fixed line operator said Monday. Japans Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. or NTT controls 35.2 percent of SLT, the Sri Lankan government owns 49.5 percent and the public 15.3 percent. SLT Publications […]
PBJ Resignation
December 11, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s powerful treasury secretary P B Jayasundara, has sent in his resignation, the state-run Daily News reported Monday. The newspaper did not give a reason, but said Jayasundara will cease from running the day-to-day affairs of the finance ministry from December 31. Jayasundara is due to take up a […]
Susanthika Jayasinghe comes second at Asian Games 100m
DOHA, Dec 9, 2006 (AFP) – Guzel Khubbieva of Uzbekistan won the women’s 100 metres title here at the Asian Games on Saturday.But Khubbieva, a two-time silver medallist at last year’s Asian Championships, had built up enough of a gap to hold her off while Al Ghasar came late to take third. The 30-year-old, a […]
Funny Money
December 08, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main opposition party has said the government should investigate suspected money laundering transactions in the Colombo Stock Exchange, when the vote on the finance ministry’s budget was taken up in parliament this week. UNP Parliamentarian Bandula Gunawardene, a former deputy finance minister said Sri Lanka is gaining a […]
Sprouting Mobile
Dec 08, 2006 (LBO) – A top mobile phone maker expects the Sri Lankan handset market to grow by 25 to 30 percent next year as the country, as the country’s cellular operators reach out to rural customers. Nokia, the world’s largest mobile phone maker, has already experienced a surge in handset sales here since […]
Buying Time
December 8, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Friday gave banks extra time till 2009 to top up their capital by five times, the Central Bank said, as some banks have fallen short of meeting a deadline set earlier. In April 2005, monetary authorities set the capital minimum capital limit for commercial banks’ at 2.5 billion […]
Geography Lesson
December 07, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to hire a British survey company to re-draw the island’s continental shelf boundary, so that the country can claim additional rights to the seabed and any natural resources it holds. The government said Thursday that it had approved the appointment of Geophysical survey company Geotechnical Engineering and […]
Cash Pile
December 07, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s NDB Bank Thursday teamed up with global money transfer giant Western Union, to tap the lucrative foreign remittances market, officials said. Around 1.5 million Sri Lankans working and residing overseas sent home 1,918 million dollars last year, and the island’s Central Bank expects the figure to hit 3.0 […]
Shoe Bonds
Dec 06 (LBO) – A holding company that controls Sri Lanka’s largest footwear maker DSI, is to issue a 300 million rupee debenture which has been rated BBB+ (lka), Fitch Ratings Lanka said Wednesday. Fitch says the company DSI Holdings which also has a national long term rating of BBB+ may increase the size of […]
Price Signal
December, 06 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s treasury bill rates moved up by an average of 19 basis points at this Wednesday’s auction on the back of a similar hike last week, in what analysts view as a steady response by the Central Bank to tighten monetary policy and curb demand pressure. However the Central Bank […]