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Sri Lanka opposition state salary hike promise a big burden on people: minister
Dec 24, 2009 (LBO) – A steep state worker salary hike promised by opposition presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka would require 132 billion rupees to be extracted from the people through taxes each year, a government minister has warned.State revenue minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya told reporters that the monthly salary bill of state workers was now 28 […]
Sri Lanka foreign reserves steady at US$5.2bn by Dec 18
Dec 23, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves were steady at 5.2 billion US dollars by December 18, boosted by foreign inflows into debt markets and International Monetary Fund loans, the Central Bank said. But lately the Central Bank’s bill stock has started climbing and foreign reserve increases are also now tapering off. In […]
Sri Lankan shares fall on profit taking
Dec 23, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed down Wednesday as investors took profits ahead of the festive season, while high interest on conglomerate John Keells Holdings (JKH) and Asian Hotels pushed turnover over a billion rupees, brokers said. The benchmark Colombo All Share Price Index (ASPI) closed down 0.45 percent (14.82 points) to […]
Fleet Growth
Dec 23, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Mercantile Shipping Company said it has taken delivery of the second of a pair of new cargo ships it ordered built by a Dutch yard. According to the company’s September quarter results just released to the stock exchange, it made a loss of 18.8 million rupees in the […]
Sri Lanka could see tea prices easing next year
Dec 23, 2009 (LBO) – Tea export countries like Sri Lanka could see prices easing next year as better weather improves crops and reduces the global shortfall that drove prices higher in 2009, the Food and Agriculture Organisation has forecast.Tea prices reached a record high in 2009, but should ease next year as weather improves […]
Sri Lanka farmers get mobile phone trade service
Dec 23, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s top celco Dialog Telekom is offering a trading platform based on short message services (SMS) that can help farmers to sell their produce and create a forward market for agriculture produce, officials said. Phones that don’t have the unicode function will deliver SMS’s in ‘Singlish’, he said. Singlish […]
Money Wave
RATHGAMA, December 23, 2009 (AFP) – Billions of dollars were pledged after the 2004 Asian tsunami to help people like Pradeepa Niroshani who waited in vain for money to rebuild her destroyed home. Five years after the disaster, the government in Sri Lanka is under pressure from a leading anti-corruption group to account for nearly […]
India tightens tourist visa rules: official
NEW DELHI, December 23, 2009 (AFP) – India has tightened its rules for long-term tourist visas, officials said Wednesday, in a move that is causing confusion for travellers and will affect thousands of foreigners in the country.Under previous rules, tourists on five or 10-year visas were required to leave the country every 180 days.But many […]
Sri Lanka threatens legal action over war crimes claim
December 23, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka threatened on Wednesday to take legal action against its former military chief over his claims that troops had committed war crimes against Tamil Tiger rebels.Former army chief Sarath Fonseka claimed this month that Sri Lankan troops shot dead surrendering Tamil leaders on the orders of the defence secretary […]
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Dec 22, 2009 (LBO) – Private power producer Vidullanka PLC has been given a short term financial rating of P2 and a long term rating of BBB+, by agency RAM Ratings Lanka. The long term rating has a stable outlook. The rating is supported by the company’s sound project economics and financial strategy, the rating […]
Sri Lanka in talks with ADB on emergency loan
Dec 23, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is seeking a 150 million dollar emergency assistance loan from the Asian Development Bank that could help start urgent projects, especially in the former war zone, officials said. These include power supply schemes and refurbishment of hospitals in Mullaithivu and Kilinochchi, two towns that were former Tamil Tiger […]
Sri Lanka Treasuries yields, CB T-bill stock up
Dec 22, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Treasuries yields edged up marginally at Tuesday’s auction the government’s debt office said, while the Treasury bill stock held by the Central Bank continued to climb. The 3-month yield edged up 07 basis points to 7. 67 percent, the 6-month yield was also up exactly 07 percent, and […]