Category:
Bursting economic bubble may have averted greater disaster ahead: Sri Lanka CB chief
Sept 08, 2009 (LBO) – The bursting of a global economic bubble in 2007-2008 may have averted greater disaster ahead, but the global financial community must implement a new framework to prevent recurrences, Sri Lanka’s central bank chief has said. Cabraal said complex financial instruments, especially derivatves, should be subjected to tighter rules and like […]
Sri Lankan shares close 1.66-pct up
Sep 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed up almost across the board Monday as retail investors bet heavily on hotel stocks, while strategic investors bought into high value counters such as Commercial Bank, brokers said. The benchmark Colombo All Share Price Index (ASPI) was up 1.66 percent (43.78 points) to close at 2,674.55 […]
Freight Costs
Sept 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shippers say they will resist efforts by international shipping lines to raise freight rates this month at a time of over-capacity by switching to smaller lines if necessary.Global lines led by Maersk, the world’s biggest container carrier, have announced rate hikes from September 1. CMA CMG and Evergreen […]
Cost Management
Sept 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank is cutting costs and focusing on recoveries to put the bank back on a stronger financial footing, members of an interim board appointed by the regulator said. At bank level gross loans were 101.8 billion and bad loans were 32.1 billion rupees. Seylan reported 187.8 million […]
Rate War
Sept 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Telecom, the island’s dominant fixed line operator, said it was offering lower rates and discounts in new subscriber packages amid intensifying competition among phone companies.Existing SLT customer switching to new packages will be charged a transfer fee while those sticking to their ‘Home’ and ‘Business’ standard packages will […]
” UN official expulsion: official
September 7, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is reviewing a move to expel a senior United Nations official over comments he made during the final weeks of the country’s decades long ethnic war, a senior official said Monday.James Elder, communications chief for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), was ordered out of the country for […]
Sri Lanka heads for record deficit despite better revenues in June
Sept 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state revenues fell 6.15 percent in June from a year earlier, implying an annualized deficit of 10.8 percent of gross domestic product for 2009, but the gap has narrowed from previous months, the latest official data show. In the 6-months to June the state took away 289.7 billion […]
Bank Issue
Sept 06, 2009 (LBO) – A 54.2 million sale of fresh voting shares in Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank to raise 1.9 billion rupees, after it was put under new management by regulators, has attracted the interest of foreign funds, a top official said. The Ceylinco group controlled the bank through its own shares as well […]
‘s budget airlines leave rivals in vapour stream
MUMBAI, September 6, 2009 (AFP) – India’s low-cost airlines are set to go from strength to strength as they grab market share from ailing premier carriers such as Air India, whose debts and losses continue to pile up, experts say.Big airlines such as Jet Airways, Kingfisher and Air India are being hit by falling revenues […]
India promises 10-billion-dollar bond purchase: IMF
WASHINGTON, September 5, 2009 (AFP) – The International Monetary Fund on Saturday hailed India’s pledge to buy 10 billion dollars worth of IMF bonds, as top emerging economies pressed for a greater say in running the global economy.“I welcome the announcement by India of its intention to support the Fund’s lending capacity through the purchase […]
Suzuki Motor to build new auto plant in India: report
TOKYO, September 5, 2009 (AFP) – Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp.plans to build a new plant in India in 2011 in a bid to meet growing demand for cars in the country, a newspaper reported on Saturday. The manufacturer of small cars and motorcycles plans to invest about 30 billion yen (323 million dollars) in construction […]
Sri Lanka expels UN official over war comments
September 6, 2009 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan government said on Sunday it had ordered a senior United Nations official to leave the country over comments he made about the recently ended war against Tamil Tiger separatist rebels. James Elder, spokesman for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), appeared regularly on foreign television news channels […]