Category: Industry
Sri Lanka to withdraw visa on arrival: public notice
Aug 27, 2010 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government has decided to withdraw the on-arrival visa facility to tourists from September 30, 2010, a public notice said. The Department of Immigration & Emigration website said on-arrival visas will be given only to visitors from countries that reciprocate. No reason was given for the change and […]
Mindset Change
Aug 27, 2010 (LBO) – A top Sri Lankan banker has urged a shift to loans based on cash-flows, not assets, and more lending to people in the north-east of money mopped up by new branches in the former war zone. Rajendra Theagarajah, chief executive of the private listed Hatton National Bank, said banks should […]
Merchant Merger
Aug 27, 2010 (LBO) – The state-owned Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka (MBSL) seeks to merge with two units of its parent Bank of Ceylon group, a stock exchange filing said. It said a proposal is being considered to merge Merchant Credit of Sri Lanka and Ceylease Finance Services with Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka […]
Infamous
Aug 27, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s finance ministry chief lashed out at the country’s cautious banks which are reluctant to engage in risky lending and also slammed a credit information office, labeling it ‘infamous’. “The associated risks and the mismatch in asset and liabilities of these institutions have imposed a severe burden to their […]
Northern Links
Aug 27, 2010 (LBO) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will give Sri Lanka a loan of 154. 4 million US dollars to modernise roads in the north which was ravaged by decades of war, a statement said. The loan agreement for the project was signed Friday between the Ministry of Finance and Planning and […]
Mobile Money
Aug 27, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank has drafted guidelines for mobile phone payment systems and called for public comments, according to a notice on its website. Mobile payments will be allowed through accounts in licensed banks and registered finance companies as well as Custodian Account Based Systems operated by non-bank service providers. […]
No Access
August 26, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka has blocked over 100 porn websites that allegedly feature local men and women, the government said Thursday, in its biggest yet Internet censorship move. The Sri Lankan Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) has been asked to prevent users in the country accessing some 107 adult websites, the government information […]
Bank Numbers
Aug 26, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Union Bank said net profits rose 54 percent to 50 million rupees in the half year to June 2010 from a year ago as margins improved and that it plans to have more branches. Interest income fell 10 percent to 858 million rupees while interest expenses fell at […]
Small Lender
Aug 25, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Sanasa Development Bank (SDB), a small lender from the co-operative movement, has retained its ‘BBB’ local long term rating with a stable outlook, RAM Ratings Lanka said. “Despite its high-risk target market, SDB has been able to maintain its better-than-industry asset quality, supported by its stringent credit evaluation […]
Lifting Boost
Aug 24, 2010 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Ports Authority is to borrow 62. 5 million US dollars from the state-owned Bank of Ceylon to fund the acquisition of new cargo handling cranes from China, a statement said. The SLPA statement said it will buy one crane of 50 tonne capacity, two cranes of 41 […]
New Entrant
Aug 23, 2010 (LBO) – PC House, a tech company which completed an Initial Public Offering earlier this month, is to start trading on August 26, 2010, a stock exchange filing said. PC House will be listed under the main board of the Colombo Stock Exchange and will be classified under the IT (information technology) […]
Gainful Moves
Aug 23, 2010 (LBO) – A planned expressway between Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo and Kandy in the central hills will significantly reduce transport costs and connect under-developed regions with developed ones, a new World Bank study said. “Islandwide expenditure on transport will decline from 155 million rupees a day to 127 million rupees, a reduction […]