Category: Industry
Trade Block
July 11 (LBO) – A tariff cut of up to 70 percent on goods like cement imported under the Indo-Lanka free trade deal, has been pushed back to September due to procedural delays. This will come into effect by September this year, that is our expectation and we are trying to speed it up, N […]
Lost & Found
COLOMBO, July 12, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka announced Wednesday it would seize an estimated 30 million dollars in dormant bank accounts as part of a drive to clean up commercial bank books. Monetary authorities will use a provision under the Banking Act relating to “abandoned property” to access the dormant funds, Upali de Silva, […]
In Control
KUALA LUMPUR, July 12, 2006 (AFP) – Tony Fernandes, head of budget carrier AirAsia, will ensure the airline remains Malaysian owned and not sell shares to Singapore state investment arm Temasek Holdings, a report said Wednesday. Fernandes, who has a majority stake in Tune Air which in turn owns 40 percent in Asia’s pioneering low […]
Fuelling Wars
July 11 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s energy minister wants nine billion rupees from the Treasury to settle Ceylon Petroleum Corp’s subsidy bill, as the Treasury tries to free up pricing. We will not raise prices, but we have asked the Treasury for nine billion rupees from January to date to settle CPC’s subsidy bill, or […]
Winning Words
July 11 (LBO) – Sri Lanka™s Editors Guild will honour print journalists Tuesday evening at its annual awards ceremony for journalistic excellence in 2005. Krishni Ifham Virakesari D B Dhanapala Best Journalist of the Year Tamil Sonali Samarasingha The Sunday Leader Mervyn de Silva Journalist of the Year Special Awards for the best students of […]
Quick Sand
July 9, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will continue to subsidise retail fuel prices in the absence of a new pricing formula, as Colombo threatened to takeover Indian Oil Corp’s local unit if they fail to resume gasoline sales, officials said Sunday. Sri Lanka is a net oil importer, with fuel shipments doubling to 1.6 […]
Oil Conundrum
July 9, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main opposition charged that weak economic management was the cause of galloping inflation in the country and not oil prices.“The government is hiding behind the bunker of oil price rises and driving up inflation by printing money and banks borrowings,” United National Parliamentarian and former Deputy Finance Minister […]
Audit Rider
July 7, 2006 (LBO) – A parliamentary body which oversees public finances, plans to bring a law to beef up the office of Sri Lanka’s Auditor General, a senior legislator said. Meanwhile a parliamentarian has made statements claiming to be from another report due to be tabled shortly, that 360 billion rupees have disappeared to […]
Warming Up
July 6, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka plans to issue spectrum for third generation or next generation mobile technology to cellular phone operators next week, the telecom watchdog said Thursday. Priced at 5-million dollars, third generation or 3G licenses allow operators to offer higher speed wireless services on the 2GHz (gigahertz band). “All four existing […]
Deep Cut
July 6, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s biggest mobile-phone operator Dialog Telekom Thursday slashed outgoing call charges by as much as 50 percent as the firm stepped up its expansion drive in the country. Call charges within the network from 11.00 pm to 6.00 am will go down by 50 percent to 2.00 rupees, while […]
It™s a Wrap
July 6, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has slapped a controversial tax on foreign commercials, Hollywood and Bollywood blockbusters, dramas and sitcoms from July 1, with funds collected ploughed back to develop the local film industry. The taxes range from 90,000 rupees for a 30 minute dubbed episode to a million rupees for each foreign […]
Nit Picking
July 6, 2006 (LBO) – India’s Commerce Minister has raised the red flag on Sri Lankan shipments of vanaspati, pepper and marble, as they are threatening to destabilise the giant neighbour’s domestic industry, the Indian embassy said in a statement Thursday. The statement comes as both nations last week concluded trade talks on forming a […]