Category:
Sri Lanka decides against more coal power
July 30, 2010 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government has decided to change its coal-based power generation plan and not go for more coal plants and instead shift towards renewable energy, power minister Patali Ranawaka said. The previous generation plan envisaged adding about 200 megawatts a year of coal based power plants, he said. A […]
Sri Lanka-Japan free trade deal possible: statement
July 30, 2010 (LBO) – Japan is willing to consider a request by Sri Lanka for a free trade deal between the two countries, a foreign affairs ministry statement said. Japan has also been one of Sri Lanka’s biggest donors and lenders, helping to fund infrastructure like ports and highways. “The government of Japan will […]
Sri Lanka private TV station torched
July 30, 2010 (AFP) – Unidentified attackers set fire to a private television station in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo Friday after smashing editing equipment, police said. Friday’s attack was the first targeting a private television station since an identical torching of another private TV network near the capital in January last year. No one […]
Sri Lanka inflation slows to 4.3-pct in July
July 30, 2010 (LBO) – Consumer prices in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo rose 4. 3 percent in July 2010 from a year earlier, down from 4. 8 percent in June, the fifth straight monthly fall, the government statistics office said.But the 12-month moving average, which is a lagging indicator spread over two years and has […]
Sri Lanka to lean on banks to lend, cut taxes: official
July 30, 2010 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government intends to reduce taxes further and put pressure on commercial banks to lend more to the private sector, Sarath Amunugama, Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning, said. With the island’s agriculture and services sectors expanding very fast, there is a need to pay much more attention […]
Sri Lankan stocks close down 0.39-pct
July 29, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed lower after hitting fresh highs in intra-day trade Thursday, as investors continued to buy amidst some profit taking, while retail investors chased after ‘penny’ stocks, brokers said. Hemas Holdings closed at 42.00 rupees, up 2.00 with 3.32 million shares traded, Aitken Spence closed flat at 1,900. […]
Compliance Call
July 29, 2010 (LBO) – Informal entities that have been operating as Islamic financiers in Sri Lanka will have to get their houses in order and become fully compliant with supervisory regulations ahead of a new law on deposit taking, an industry official said. “Some IFIs (Islamic financial institutions), because the owner is a well […]
Northern Reach
July 29, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank has opened two more branches in the former northern war zone of the Jaffna peninsula where economic activity is reviving, a statement said. “Residents of the Northern Province are now served by 11 Commercial Bank branches and service points with the simultaneous opening of two new […]
Sri Lanka Carson oil palm profits down
July 29, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Carson Cumberbatch group net profit for the June 2010 quarter fell 12 percent to 1. 19 billion rupees from a year ago with a lower contribution from its oil palm plantations in east Asia, latest results showed. Revenue of the group, which has oil palm plantations in Indonesia […]
Portable Numbers
July 29, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is ready for mobile number portability, where the subscribers who switch telecom operators can take their personal number with them to the new provider, but the rule should also apply to fixed networks, an industry official said. But Sri Lanka’s fixed access sector is stagnant or shrinking. In […]
Sri Lanka Hemas power profits up on hydro gains
July 29, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hemas Power said net profit for the June 2010 quarter shot up 967 percent to 80 million rupees from a year ago on a sharp increase in earnings from hydropower. Sales of the company, a unit of the Hemas Holdings group, fell five percent to 729 million rupees […]
Sri Lanka to reduce high costs of thermal power plants
July 29, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is giving top priority to cutting high costs of running thermal power plants, encouraging energy conservation measures and shifting to renewable energy sources, minister of power and energy Champika Ranawaka said. “Our short-term plan is to convert high-cost thermal power plants using diesel and heavy fuels into low-cost […]