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Sri Lanka needs near term moderate growth for stability: IMF output gap study
Mar 12, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has a potential gross domestic product growth of about 6.75 percent a year after the end of a civil war and near term moderate growth may help keep the economy stable, an International Monetary Fund Study has suggested. Proponents of the so-called ‘output gap’ believe that an economy […]
Sri Lanka stocks down 0.2-pct, rupee stronger
Mar 11, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s stocks close 0.22 percent lower Tuesday with index heavy John Keells Holdings losing ground and the rupee was allowed to appreciate slightly by authorities, brokers and dealers said. The Colombo benchmark All Share Price Index closed 13.04 points lower at 5,944.57 down 0.22 percent. The S&P SL20 closed […]
Plastic Cash
Mar 11, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank of Ceylon says it has seen a sharp increase in payments by debit card and 400,000 new cards had been issued over the past year.Outstanding credit was 49.3 billion rupees up from 44.4 billion rupees in December. The bank claims to have the ‘largest active debit […]
Gallow Fright
COLOMBO, March 11, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s new executioner panicked after seeing the country’s main gallows for the first time and has since gone AWOL leaving the authorities hanging, the top prison official said Tuesday.“But, with this chap leaving, we are now in a quandary,” Pallegama said. “In case the government resumes hanging, we […]
Sri Lanka capital to get wetland and beach parks
Mar 11, 2014 (LBO) – Wetland’s in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo will be preserved and a educational wetland park is also being built, under a World Bank funded program to improve the city, an official said.Seneviratne also said the two ‘beach parks’ will be set up in the north and south Colombo. Rohan Seneviratne additional […]
Sri Lanka Lee Hedges in US$9mn office complex
Mar 11, 2015 (LBO) – Lee Hedges Plc, a unit of Sri Lanka’s Pioneer group of companies will build a 1.2 billion rupee, 15-floor office complex, the state investment promotion agency said. The project is implemented through Lee Hedges Investments Ltd, a unit of Lee Hedges Plc which is in the pioneer group. The building […]
Sri Lanka sells US$187mn in 3-year floating rate bonds
Mar 10, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has sold 187 million dollars of 3-year bonds at a yield of 400 basis points above the London Interbank Offered Rate, the state debt office said.The bonds are mostly bought by Colombo-based banks and investors who are allowed to hold foreign currency assets. On March 10, LIBOR was […]
Sri Lanka stocks close weaker
Mar 10, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s stocks close 0.14 percent lower Monday with Sri Lanka Telecom and John Keells Holdings losing ground, brokers said. The Colombo benchmark All Share Price Index closed 8.45 points lower at 5,957.61 down 0.14 percent. The S&P SL20 closed 7.30 points higher at 3,252.29, up 0.22 percent. Turnover was […]
Marine Cable
Mar 10, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Telecom said it is partnering with 15 other operators to build a new submarine cable system spanning South East Asia, Middle East and Western Europe, which will be landed in Matara in the island’s south.With telecom traffic growing fast existing cable systems such as SEA-ME-WE 4 are getting […]
Tele Effort
HANOVER, March 9, 2014 (AFP) – Britain and Germany will team up to work on developing the next super-fast mobile network, 5G, Prime Minister David Cameron told the opening of the world’s biggest high-tech fair Sunday.Cameron said the initiative was one of three areas he wanted Britain and Germany to collaborate on to “pool ideas, […]
Sri Lanka no longer “uncomfortable” with inflation blot on economic record
Mar 10, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is no longer “uncomfortable” with the blot of high inflation in its economic record when meeting international agencies and visiting businessmen, a top official said.“We no longer feel uncomfortable to speak to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the international rating agencies, the international business community, all […]
Reclaiming Controversy
Mar 09, 2014 (LBO) – State-run Sri Lanka Port Authority has responded to criticism over the award of an unsolicited sea reclamation project to a Chinese firm saying deals on similar lines had happened earlier. China Communication Construction Co.Ltd (CCCC), a key player in the ‘Port City’ project involving 233 hectares near Colombo Port has […]