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Sri Lanka Spence Hotel earmarks investments for former war zone
Mar 16, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings said the largest chunk of 2.5 billion rupees it plans to raise through a rights issue will go for new hotels in the island’s former war zone. It also plans to build a hotel in the northern Jaffna region. The firm said about a […]
Furniture Push
Mar 16, 2010 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka unit of Singer, a consumer durables firm, said it was re-branding a furniture range under its own name and pushing it out to rural areas where the firm has strong brand loyalty. “There is more potential in the growth in the consumer behaviour in rural areas. There […]
Sri Lanka to allow recreational flying
Mar 16, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has decided to lift restrictions on private flying and open up her skies for recreational aviation to lure tourists after the end of a 30-year war, a senior official said. Dissanayake said they want to revive an ‘open skies’ scheme started in November 2006 in the island’s south […]
Sri Lanka Tea Board probes fake tea complaint
Mar 16, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Tea Board is investigating complaints by an exporter that certain teas sold in Europe as pure Ceylon tea are actually blended with teas from other origins, officials said. Zarook alleged that his competitors in Germany were competing on price because they were mixing Ceylon tea with Vietnamese tea […]
Consolidating Colombo, Sri Lanka as an aviation hub
Mar 16, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to become a “Naval, Aviation, Commercial, Energy and Knowledge hub.” We are already an incipient aviation hub for the southern Indian region, including the Maldives. How did we get here? How can we build on what has been achieved? How did we get here? First, the government […]
‘s ex-army chief on trial
March 16, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s former army chief, now a sworn political enemy of President Mahinda Rajapakse, faced a military court Tuesday on controversial charges that could see him jailed for up to five years. Fonseka, a war hero last year after helping end the Indian Ocean nation’s 37-year civil war, stepped down […]
Sri Lanka to sell US$100mn in bonds
Mar 15, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is offering 100 million US dollars in two and three year floating rates bonds, paying interest every six months mainly targeting the domestic market with bids closing on March 18, the government’s debt office said. Sri Lanka has an outstanding dollar denominated ‘development bond’ debt stock of 1,469 […]
Sri Lankan stocks becalmed
Mar 15, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka stocks closed flat Monday as investors took profits and reinvested in selected midcap and hotels stocks, while heavy interest in John Keells Holdings (JKH) and Hotel Services (Ceylon) boosted turnover past a billion rupees, brokers said. The All Share Price Index closed at 3,843.55, down 0.03 percent (1.29 […]
Port Move
Mar 15, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Colombo port will get new cranes before the end of this year to replace aging equipment and improve cargo handling capacity, a senior official said. Container traffic in Colombo, which is a hub for south Asian cargo, has begun to recover after dipping last year because of global […]
Extra Income
Mar 15, 2010 (LBO) – Payment of an extra 20 percent ‘bonus interest’ to Sri Lankan senior citizens on rupee deposits maintained at licensed commercial banks will start from Thursday, March 18, the Central Bank said. The government will pay the extra interest to citizens over 60 years of age subject to a limit of […]
Reaching Out
Mar 15, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan finance companies should reach out to rural areas which historically have been short of credit, governor of the Central Bank, Nivard Cabraal, said. Rural savers are also known to make deposits at unregulated finance companies that offer high interest rates but risk making heavy losses if the firms […]
Sri Lanka lures back Japanese surfers
Mar 15, 2010 (LBO) – Some of the world’s top surfers will take part in a Japanese surfing championship that returns to Sri Lanka this month after a five-year break following the end of the island’s ethnic war. The Japan Pro Surfing Association’s (JPSA) annual competition will be held during March 19-23 at Hikkaduwa, a […]