Category: Industry
SME Focus
Mar 16, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Standard Chartered Bank is planning to double business from small and medium enterprises over the next three years with a specially tailored platform of products and services, officials said. Rajeev Chalisgaonkar, head of SME in South Asia said in India, deposits and advances in the business segment grew […]
Rural Savings
Mar 16, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-owned National Savings Bank disbursed more loans through branches in 2011 than in the past after it decentralised lending, chief executive H M Hennayake Bandara said. In the year ended December 31, 2011, interest income fell 1. 4 percent to 43.2 billion rupees while interest expenses fell at […]
Oil Agenda
Mar 15, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will auction shallow water blocks in the Mannar Basin to oil exploration companies soon following the discovery of gas by Cairn India in two of three test wells, an official said. Total of France is one of the oil majors which have shown interest in Sri Lanka. “They […]
Safe Search
Mar 15, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is considering setting up a regional safety training for the oil and gas industry following the discovery of gas in its offshore waters, an official said. Saliya Wickramasuriya, the island’s Director General of Petroleum Resources Development, said safety training is an important requirement for the oil industry which […]
‘ death in Sri Lanka: report
Mar 15, 2012 (LBO) – The deaths of two UAE nationals, soon after their arrival in Sri Lanka, could be due to food poisoning from an in-flight meat, a media report said. A mother and a small child had died on Tuesday evening, after arriving in the country earlier in the day. Sri Lanka’s The […]
‘s tourist arrivals up 27-pct in Feb: data
Mar 15, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals increased 27 percent to 83,549 in February 2012, from a year earlier, and visitors during the first two months were up 21 percent to 169,423, the state tourist promotion office said. South Asia, the second largest generating market, showed an increase of 14.1 percent with Indian […]
Mentality Mend
Mar 15, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shipbuilder Colombo Dockyard has urged authorities to get rid of a war-time mentality and loosen regulations to allow business to grow amid a post-war economic boom. Colombo Dockyard managing director Mangala Yapa said the end of the 30-year ethnic war has opened up new business opportunities but growth […]
Moral Suasion
Mar 14, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has asked banks to limit credit to buy motor cars, in a bid to reduce imports, as the country faced balance of payments pressure and lost more than a quarter of its foreign reserves. The Central Bank said vehicle dealers had built up large inventories of […]
‘s Mackwoods Energy plans hydro plants of 6.4MW
Mar 13, 2012 (LBO) – Mackwoods Energy Limited, a unit of Sri Lanka’s privately held Mackwoods group is is raising 350 million rupees from a public offer to build hydro power plants and expand existing business, officials said. The firm will sell energy through a flat-tariff power purchase agreement to state-run Ceylon Electricity Board. The […]
Yard Fortunes
Mar 13, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Colombo Dockyard anticipates lower ship building and repair orders given the shipping industry downturn but is investing in equipment to improve efficiency and eyeing offshore oil industry work. “Geographically, Colombo Dockyard couldn’t be positioned in a better place than in Sri Lanka. It truly is an imperative in […]
Sri Lanka main airport moves 6.34mn pax in 2011: official
Mar 12, 2012 (LBO) – Passenger movements through Sri Lanka’s main international airport rose to 6.4 million above its design capacity of 6 million passengers, and the state-run agency was scrambling to add capacity, an official said. The airport was building a one million passenger domestic terminal to be completed by the end of the […]
Lady Chat
Mar 12, 2012 (LBO) – Mobitel, a unit of fixed access operator Sri Lanka Telecom said it has launched a package targeting female subscribers with life insurance included in the monthly rental. Mobitel said it launched the ‘Liyasara’ branded package on International Women’s Day with the first subscriber module being given to First Lady Shiranthi […]