Sri Lanka tax revenues picking up: Treasury Secretary

July 30, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tax revenues are picking up helped by stronger customs collections, Treasury Secretary P B Jayasundera said.Sri Lanka’s state revenues were 51 billion rupees below target in the first four months Jayasundera said revenues were better in June and July with a pick in vehicle imports also contributing. Sri […]

Sri Lanka hopes to move to budget deficit of 4.0-pct of GDP

July 29, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is hoping to cut the budget deficit to 4.0 percent of gross domestic product and generate a 2.0 percent revenue surplus, Treasury Secretary P B Jayasundera said.Sri Lanka ran a 6.4 percent of gross domestic product overall deficit in the budget in 2012 and a 1.4 percent revenue […]

‘s Nanda Investment on positive rating watch: RAM

July 29, 2013 (LBO) – Nanda Finance Investment Plc, a small finance company that was recently acquired by Bangladesh-based BRAC micro finance group and Sri Lanka’s LOLC group has been placed on positive rating watch on a possible upgrade by RAM Ratings.RAM said the firm was small, lacked of a clear strategic direction. “However, given […]

Sri Lanka stocks close flat

July 29, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s stocks closed flat Monday with activity seen in the large cap stocks and some banking stocks, brokers said. Distilleries Company closed at 190.50 rupees up 30 cents while Aitken Spence closed at 124.00 down 90 cents. John Kells Holdings closed at 267.50 rupees down 0.50 rupees. The benchmark […]

Credit Trend

July 29, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s loans to private business picked up in May as credit to both state enterprises and the central government from banks dropped in May, official data showed.Total credit to the state dropped 6.2 billion rupees to 1555.6 billion rupees in May from a month earlier, which included an increase […]

Credit Board

July 29, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s industry and commerce ministry said it had appointed a four person body to approve credit agencies under powers of Sri Lanka’s mortgage and trust receipt laws. Commercial minister Rishad Bathiudeen had appointed, Sujeewa Rajapaksa (President of ICASL), Anura Meddagoda (Attorney at Law) and VM Weerasinghe (Chief Accountant, Ministry […]

Myanmar monasteries offer bootcamp for the spirit

YANGON, July 29, 2013 (AFP) – Pre-dawn wake-up calls, days of silence and hunger may not be everyone’s idea of a holiday, but for tourists seeking spiritual sustenance Myanmar’s monasteries offer help on the path to Buddhist nirvana.The search for inner peace is unlikely to appeal to those who take a more hedonistic approach to […]

Tele Investments

July 29, 2013 (LBO) – Investments in Sri Lanka’s by Dialog Axiata group, a unit of Malaysia’s Axiata is reaching 1.5 billion US dollars with a 150 million US dollar network and fibre optic capacity, officials said. The latest investment agreement inked with the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka for 150 million dollars will […]

India panel clears Jet-Etihad deal: official

NEW DELHI, July 29, 2013 (AFP) – India’s foreign investment panel Monday approved a plan for Abu Dhabi-based Etihad to buy a stake in Indian airline Jet, but the pact still faces other hurdles. “It (the agreement) has been cleared” by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), a senior finance ministry official told AFP. “But […]

Cricket: Dilshan, Sangakkara lift Sri Lanka to series win

PALLEKELE, July 28, 2013 (AFP) – Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara pulverised South Africa’s bowling as Sri Lanka took a decisive 3-1 lead in the one-day series with an eight-wicket victory in Pallekele on Sunday.Amla, batting for the first time in the series after being injured while fielding in the only other game he played, […]

Sri Lanka FDI flows reach $430mn in first half 2013

July 29, 2013 (LBO) – Foreign direct investment flows to Sri Lanka in the first half of 2013 reached 430 million US dollars and the full year was expected to bring 2.0 billion US dollars, investment promotion minister Lakshman Abeywardena said. The money had come mainly from Chinese and Hong Kong based companies with top […]

Personal Travel

July 28, 2013 (LBO) – Scooters are becoming more popular in Sri Lanka making up about a third of all two-wheelers sold in the country now, the agents for India’s Mahindra group said at the launch of new models.Sri Lankan citizens who could not afford a car were buying up to 24,000 two-wheelers a month […]

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