Category:
Sri Lanka sells USD278mn in bonds
June 21, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has sold 278 million US dollars in two and three year bonds at prices over 380 basis points above the 6-month London Interbank Offered Rate, rolling over 275 million US dollars of maturing debt. The government’s debt office said it sold 102 million US dollars of 3-year bonds […]
Hong Kong gold closes at record high
HONG KONG, June 21, 2010 (AFP) – Gold closed at a record high above 1,264 dollars an ounce in Hong Kong on Monday as the greenback weakened against Asian currencies after China’s announcement of a more flexible yuan. The precious metal ended at 1,264.50 US dollars an ounce. The main catalyst for the rally was […]
Sri Lankan stocks close 1.11-pct up, foreign inflow
June 21, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed up Monday on the back of price gains on midcap and selected high value shares, while there was a foreign inflow of funds, brokers said. Nearly 17 million Dialog Telekom shares changed hands between 9.25 to 10.25 rupees, brokers said. Dialog Telekom, a unit of Axiata […]
Sri Lanka tea trade calls for limit on new factories
June 21, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea trade has called for a stop to the setting up of new factories unless they are supported by cultivated tea lands to prevent ‘excess capacity’ and competition for green leaf. Avi de Silva, chairman of the Colombo Tea Traders’ Association, said they were concerned about the proliferation […]
Sri Lanka trade talks mull market access for migrant labour
June 21, 2010 (LBO) – Opening up labour markets in developed countries for migrant workers from South Asian countries like Sri Lanka is of critical importance for the region at world trade talks, an economist said. Many South Asians are working abroad in construction, nursing and health care, and in personal care as domestic assistants. […]
‘s Reliance Broadcast signs TV deal with CBS for South Asia
NEW DELHI, June 20, 2010 (AFP) – India’s Reliance Broadcast Network, part of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group, has signed a deal with the US-based CBS network to launch TV channels across south Asia, the company said Sunday. The two companies will first launch English-language entertainment channels and at a later stage explore channels in […]
‘s Ban names war crimes panel
June 21, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is “deeply unhappy” at a move by UN chief Ban Ki-moon to name a panel to look into alleged war crimes committed during the final months of the island’s civil war, an official said Monday. Colombo repeated President Mahinda Rajapakse’s protest to Ban in March that the panel […]
Sri Lanka state non-tax revenues up in first quarter
June 21, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has seen steep increase in non-tax incomes in the first quarter of 2010 which accounted for more than half the revenue gains made by the state, official data shows. State revenues increased by 26.3 percent in the first quarter to 182. 7 billion rupees with tax revenues gaining […]
State Banking
June 20, 2010 (LBO) – Lankaputhra Development Bank, a state bank set up to fulfill an election promise, has increased its bad loans to 55. 9 percent in 2009, from 19.2 percent a year earlier, a government report has revealed. Lankaputhra or ‘sons of the Lanka’ bank was set up to fill a supposed lack […]
Arsenic in water poisoned 77 million Bangladeshis: report
DHAKA, June 20, 2010 (AFP) – Up to 77 million Bangladeshis have been exposed to toxic levels of arsenic from contaminated drinking water, and even low-level exposure to the poison is not risk-free, The Lancet medical journal reported. Over the past decade, more than 20 percent of deaths recorded in a study that monitored nearly […]
Cricket-mad Indian touted as next Deutsche Bank CEO
BERLIN, June 20, 2010 (AFP) – Anshu Jain already captains Deutsche Bank’s cricket team, and a boardroom reshuffle last week means that the Indian big-hitter is now seen as a prime candidate to be chief executive too. Jain, 47, has just been appointed sole head of the German lender’s most powerful division, its corporate and […]
India oust Pakistan in Asia Cup thriller
DAMBULLA, June 19, 2010 (AFP) – Harbhajan Singh smashed the penultimate ball from Mohammad Aamer for a six as India knocked Pakistan out of the Asia Cup with a three-wicket win on Saturday. Raina and Harbhajan then stepped in to lead a brilliant recovery and crush a valiant Pakistan side’s hopes of staying alive in […]