Category: Other
World Bank gives Wolfowitz more time
WASHINGTON, May 9, 2007 (AFP) – The board of the World Bank has given an additional week to embattled bank president Paul Wolfowitz to defend himself in a nepotism scandal, the bank said in a statement Wednesday.“The Executive Directors met today to consider a request from the President for additional time to comment on the […]
Sri Lanka raises fuel prices
May 11, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has raised fuel prices from midnight Friday with diesel going up by two rupees, petrol by one rupee and furnace oil by three rupees a litre, a Ceylon Petroleum Corporation official said.This would push 90-Octane petrol to 106 rupees and 95-Octane petrol to 109 rupees with standard auto-diesel going […]
No Split
May 10, 2007 (LBO) – A listed hotel firm in Sri Lanka has decided not to go ahead with a share split citing provisions in a new company law that came into effect earlier this month. Dividends declarations are subjected to solvency tests under the new law. Associated Hotels, went through a process to split […]
Splitting Hairs
May 9, 2007 (LBO) – Firms that declared a ‘bonus’ issue but have not yet ratified it with a shareholder vote will have to go through a process under the new company law and ‘split’ the shares, officials and legal experts said. A new company law came into effect in Sri Lanka on May 03, […]
Jakarta Arrest
May 7, 2007 (LBO) – Indonesian police have arrested top operatives of the GoldQuest scheme, while its founder is also wanted by Interpol for his activities in the Philippines, reports said. Quest International (QI) group Chief Executive Vijayeswaran Vijayaratnam, director Joseph Bismark, and two other senior executives, Donna Marie Imson and Tagumpay Kintanar were arrested […]
Miscreants Beware
May 7, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s new Companies Act will force firms to better comply with listing rules and help clean up the ‘Default Board’ of the Colombo Stock Exchange, legal experts and officials said. The new law imposes tougher penalties for non-compliance with disclosure requirements and could have a deterrent effect on listed […]
Tougher Laws
May 07, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka plans to include tough anti-terror financing laws into banking, insurance and securities market, in a bid to crack down on unscrupulous people using the financial system to launder money, officials said Monday. “We are looking at including elements of our anti-money laundering and financial transactions reporting laws into […]
ADB looks for new role after success in growing Asian prosperity
KYOTO, Japan, May 5, 2007 (AFP) – The Asian Development Bank came under pressure Saturday not to abandon the region’s poorest as it considers a major overhaul in response to warnings that it risks becoming irrelevant. With Asia’s rapid economic growth expected to wipe out widespread absolute poverty in much of the region by 2020, […]
Ultimate Aim
May 5, 2007 (LBO) – An amendment effected to the Monetary Law Act in 2002 requires the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to pursue ˜economic and price stability’ as one of the two core objectives of the Bank. The writer is the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka This is somewhat a […]
Sri Lanka tea export earnings boosted by high prices
MAY 3, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea exports fell in the first quarter of 2007 but earnings were up because of high prices caused by supply shortages owing to a strike and dry weather, brokers said. Shipments of Ceylon tea in January-March 2007 fell 4% to 74.4 million kg from the record 77.8 million kg […]
Sri Lanka tea industry to get back withheld funds; objections to new cess
April 30, 2007 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government has agreed to release all funds owed to the tea industry from the export cess but key stakeholders are opposing a proposal to further increase the cess. Tea Board Chairman Lalith Hettiarachchi told LBO the Cabinet had agreed to release all funds of the tea export cess, […]
China invests in key projects in Zimbabwe as West tighten economic sanctions
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, April 27, 2007 (AFP) – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said on Friday that burgeoning economic ties with Asian countries were paying off for the country shunned by its former trading allies in the west. “I am pleased to report that significant headway has been made with a number of investment projects that have […]