Category:
Final Stretch
June 13, 2011 (LBO) – An toll expressway to Sri Lanka’s southern city of Galle is expected be completed by July 2011, but the pricing has not yet been decided, the head of the country’s road agency R W Pemasiri said. He said work on 31.6 kilometer stretch financed by the Japan Bank for International […]
Smart Share
June 13, 2011 (LBO) – Korea’s Samsung has taken the lead in Sri Lanka’s ‘smart phone’ and screen phone market, winning a share of between 35 to 40 percent, country manager Shankar Nayaran said. Sri Lankans are estimated to buy around 120,000 phones a month, or about 1. 4 million phones a year, he said. […]
Sri Lanka tourism: Of MICE and Patel points
June 13, 2011 (LBO) – I was asked to comment on a paper that looks at the potential of India as a source of tourists. Here are the key points. The key to changing behavior is empathy: putting oneself in the shoes of the other and looking at the world from that perspective. This is […]
Sri Lanka Ports Authority loses US$10mn in 2010
June 12, 2011 (LBO) – State-run Sri Lanka Ports Authority has lost 1.1 billion rupees in 2010 partly due foreign exchange losses on Yen loans and a rising wage bill despite revenues rising 19 percent to 28.2 billion rupees, official data showed. The newspaper quoted SLPA additional managing director Norman Weerarathne as saying that 2,398 […]
Services Sales
June 12, 2011 (LBO) – The shipping division of Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence group has won a deal to improve the efficiency of the port of Nacala in Mozambique, building on its reputation elsewhere in Africa, the company said. The deal was made on the strong “reputation it has built as a result of the […]
Sri Lanka earns Rs22.1bn from food taxes: report
June 12, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has earned 22. 1 billion rupees from taxes imposed on several basic foods imported in to country in 2009, with sugar and milk powder bringing in the most amount of money, a media report said. The Island newspaper said the information was tabled in parliament in response to […]
‘ Concern
June 11, 2011 (LBO) – Friday Forum, a Sri Lankans citizen’s group has expressed concern about a recent controversial training scheme for undergraduates, conducted the by the military, where relief was sought also from the country’s highest court. “The decision in the Supreme Court dismissing, without stating reasons, all the petitions against the programme, has […]
Sri Lanka workers against new state-controlled pension fund: poll
June 12, 2011 (LBO) – A poll by Sri Lankan weekly newspaper has found that 82 percent of the respondents were against the creation of a state-controlled pension fund with private sector workers’ money. Sri Lanka’s ruling administration has temporarily withdrawn a bill to create the controversial pension fund, after protests left one worker dead […]
Pension Fracas
June 11, 2011 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund had “nothing to do” with a controversial ‘pension’ plan for Sri Lanka’s private sector workers involving a third forced savings scheme, an official said. Rulers, a handful of their close associates can get a pension after only five years in office under a law passed by […]
India pushes Sri Lanka on Tamil rights
June 11, 2011 (AFP) – India on Saturday asked Sri Lanka to address the grievances of the island’s Tamil minority two years after the Tamil Tiger separatist rebels were finally defeated, reports said. Three top Indian officials held closed-door talks with President Mahinda Rajapakse during an overnight visit to Sri Lanka and urged a renewed […]
Sri Lanka investments could rise with transparency: IMF
June 10, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka may see a more investments, if perceptions about transparency are addressed and there is clarity on the role of the state in the economy, an International Monetary Fund mission said. “Increased transparency and improved governance could also bolster market confidence and lead to higher investment,” an IMF mission […]
Sri Lanka stock close 0.6-pct lower
June 10, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka stocks closed 0. 6 percent lower Friday after seeing a spurt of speculative trading when Lanka Orix Leasing Company sold out of People’s Merchant Bank, a smaller leasing firm, brokers said. Stocks purchased by Jayaweera have been been subject to heavy speculative trading in recent weeks, though no […]