Sri Lanka will not buy new limos for CHOGM: minister

May 23, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will not buy new limousines for the Commonwealth summit in Colombo and instead visiting heads of government will travel in cars taken on loan from ministries and departments, cabinet spokesman Anura Yapa said today.The minister denied reports that the government planned to import a dozen brand-new Rolls Royce […]

Crude Plan

May 23, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will re-start its 50,000 barrels per day refinery on May 24, after getting a stock of Omani light crude, petroleum minister Anura Yapa said. Yapa said the shipper had said they were having engine troubled and could not deliver the stock in time. The refinery hit by US […]

Oil prices falls on hopes that US Fed will end excessive money printing

SINGAPORE, May 23, 2013 (AFP) – Oil extended its losses in Asian trade on Thursday on a stronger dollar after the US Federal Reserve hinted that it could ease its massive stimulus policy soon, analysts said. “The reality is that US crude inventory remains high, indicating weak demand as the driving season approaches,” said Spooner. […]

Sri Lanka should have more strikes to boost attendance: minister

May 23, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s opposition parties should call more general strikes to improve attendance among state workers, a government minister said following a failed strike over an electricity price hike.Also in Sri Lanka budget deficits bordering 20 percent of gross domestic product, partly financed with central bank credit (printed money) had driven […]

Finance Rating

May 22, 2013 (LBO) – Melsta Regal Finance Ltd, a unit of Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka has been rated ‘A+(lka) by Fitch Ratings, on the strength of its ‘AAA(lka)’ rated ultimate parent. The full statement is reproduced below: Fitch Rates Sri Lanka’s Melsta Regal Finance ‘A+(lka)’/Stable Fitch Ratings-Colombo-21 May 2013: Fitch Ratings has assigned […]

New Chief

May 22, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka based MillenniumIT a unit of London Stock Exchange has appointed John Mackay Gill, ex-senior vice president of SunGard Data System Inc of the US as its chief executive. “Mack has had an exceptional career at SunGard and has a wealth of experience in financial services technology, operations, product […]

Super Fast

May 22, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Telecom the only wireline operator in the country, said it had soft-launched a VDSL2 (Very-High-Bit-Rate Digital Subscriber Line 2) fixed broadband service.The technology was demonstrated to Sri Lanka’s telecom minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, at a regional telecom office in Kegalle. The demonstration has seen data speeds in excess of […]

Psychographics

May 22, 2013 (LBO) – Web searching in Sri Lanka for consumer products have rocketed with rapidly falling device and access prices, giving opportunities for radically different ways of doing business, a Google official said.“The search trends for all categories in Sri Lanka have increased anywhere between 12 to 25 times, be it automobile category […]

Australia set to cull 10,000 wild horses

SYDNEY, May 22, 2013 (AFP) – A controversial cull of up to 10,000 wild horses in Australia’s harsh Outback reportedly began Wednesday in a bid to control the feral animals which officials say are destroying the land. The Central Land Council said animals — including horses, donkeys and camels — were dying in their thousands […]

Sri Lanka in deal for US$580mn from China Development Bank

May 22, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has signed a deal with China Development Bank to borrow 580 million US dollars in 2013 for projects in 2013, the state information office said.The cabinet of ministers had approved a proposal by President Mahinda Rajapaksa as finance minister to sign a memorandum of understanding with CDB. CDB […]

LBR LBO Brand Summit 2013 – “Building Resilient Brands” – Tuesday 21st May 2013

Topic: Building Resilient Brands Date/Time: Tuesday 21st May 2013 | 0845 – 1750 HRS Venue: Oak Room, Cinnamon Grand Host: Lakshaman Bandaranayake | Founding Publisher, Director | Lanka Business Online Inquiries: Lakshaman Bandaranayake | lakshaman@lbo.lk | 071 176 0167 or 072 776 0167 General | summit@lbo.lk Registration fee: Rs 12,900/= per participant, 5% discount for groups of […]

Sri Lanka gilt edged funds approved as liquid assets for banks

May 21, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank which regulates banks and finance companies had allowed mutual funds that invest in government debt to be considered liquid assets, the Securities and Exchange Commission said.The move will allow mutual funds invested in gilts or gilt unit trusts to be bought by pension and provident funds, […]

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