Category:
”: economist
Sep 12, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tendency to follow policies that hurt the average voter and makes the country lag behind other countries is due to ‘political market failure’ where small groups push policy without evidence, a senior economist said. “This is one of the most literate and educated populations in the world,” Shantanayan […]
Sri Lanka to bond deal draw top investment banks
Sept 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is getting closer to choosing managers for a 500 million US dollar bond with top names in the international investment banking circuit making presentations to the island’s authorities. Sri Lanka has been attracting the attention of big international names of late, more than a billion US dollars pouring […]
Sri Lankan shares up 8.0-pct during week
Sep 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed up Friday as retailers remained bullish and bet on stocks almost across the board, while high-net-worth investors eyed the banking and hotel sectors and conglomerate John Keells Holding (JKH), brokers said. The benchmark Colombo All Share Price Index (ASPI) closed up 1.75 percent (48.89 points) to […]
Sri Lanka needs massive increase in hotel rooms
Sept 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka needs a massive increase in hotel accommodation to cope with the anticipated influx of tourists with the end of the 30-year ethnic war, a senior travel trade official said.“The eradication of terrorism and the country returning to normal have created a window of opportunity and conducive business environment […]
Sri Lanka tea estate wage talks deadlocked
Sept 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan plantations companies and labour unions failed to agree on a wage hike at talks Thursday and are set to resume negotiations Friday morning, officials said.S Ramanathan of the Joint Plantations Trade Union Centre, one of the three main unions negotiating with employers, said both sides remained far apart […]
Indonesia detains 56 Afghan migrants: navy official
MATARAM, September 11, 2009 (AFP) – Indonesia has detained 56 Afghan migrants off the eastern island of Lombok who were attempting to travel by wooden boat to Australia, a navy official said Friday. The migrants’ boat was intercepted in the waters near Papakan island east of Lombok last night, local navy official Colonel Nanang Eko […]
”’s Jet Airways enters fourth day
MUMBAI, September 11, 2009 (AFP) – India’s second-largest private airline, Jet Airways, on Friday cancelled 171 flights, including 16 on international routes, as a stand-off between pilots and management entered a fourth day.But the further grounding of planes came amid hopes of an end to the dispute, as pilots prepared to meet bosses and India’s […]
Indian ministers revolt over economy air travel: reports
NEW DELHI, September 11, 2009 (AFP) – Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has backed down after his cabinet revolted against an austerity drive that would have forced ministers to fly in economy class, reports said Friday.Singh faced a barrage of complaints when he chaired his weekly meeting on Thursday over a series of cost-cutting steps […]
Sri Lankan court frees Tiger officials on bail
September 11, 2009 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan court on Friday released on bail two members of the Tamil Tiger rebel group who gave themselves up a month before the military leadership of their movement was wiped out, officials said.Court officials said former Tiger spokesman Velayudam Dayanidi, better known as Daya Master, and a top […]
UN urges Sri Lanka to free its staff, respect human rights
UNITED NATIONS, September 11, 2009 (AFP) – The United Nations on Thursday called on Sri Lanka to respect the human rights of two UN employees who have been held without charge since June on suspicion of collaborating with Tamil separatists. One of them, Charles Raveendran Navaratnam, was working for the UN refugee agency UNHCR in […]
Sri Lanka Central Bank cuts policy interest rates by 50bp
Sept 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank said it had decided to reduce policy interest rates by 50 basis points each from Friday with the repurchase rate to be 8.00 percent and reverse repurchase rate 10.50 percent. It said in a statement its Monetary Board decided to cut rates as inflation was low […]
Sri Lanka gets US$75mn World Bank credit for villages
Sept 11, 2009 (LBO) – The World Bank has approved a 75 million US dollar credit for village infrastructure development in Sri Lanka to expand its ‘Gemi Diriya’ project, the multilateral lender said.It has mobilized resources by promoting savings and village credit, and by linking communities to financial institutions and the private sector. Gemi Diriya […]