Category:
Foreign Interest
April 20, 2009 (LBO) – A number of prospective buyers interested in Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank have tied up with foreign partners to bid for a 33 percent stake in the bank, Central Bank governor Nivard Cabraal said. Ceylinco chief Lalith Kotelawala, who is now in remand over the collapse of his Golden Key Credit […]
India launches spy satellite
BANGALORE, April 20, 2009 (AFP) – India put an Israeli-built spy satellite into orbit Monday, aimed at boosting its defence surveillance capabilities in the aftermath of the Mumbai militant attacks. The satellite, which can see through clouds and carry out day-and-night all-weather imaging, has been a long-standing demand of the Indian military. Its acquisition was […]
Sri Lanka calls for world pressure on Tamil Tigers
April 20, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s top defence official has called on the international community and the United Nations to put pressure on Tamil Tiger rebels to lay down arms and surrender.He said the latest influx of refugees from the small strip of land remaining under rebel control showed the civilians wanted to escape […]
Civilian exodus spells defeat for Tigers: Sri Lanka president
April 20, 2009 (AFP) – Tens of thousands of civilians on Monday escaped from the area still held by Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers, signalling that the rebels’ “complete defeat” was imminent, President Mahinda Rajapakse said. Showing AFP aerial video from a military spy plane over the tiny area where the Tigers are staging a last […]
35,000 civilians flee Tiger area: Sri Lanka president
April 20, 2009 (AFP) – More than 35,000 civilians Monday fled the last area under the control of Sri Lanka’s cornered Tamil Tigers, President Mahinda Rajapakse said, adding that the rebels’ “complete defeat” was imminent. Showing aerial video from a military spy plane over the tiny area where the Tigers are staging a last stand, […]
Sri Lanka troops rescue 5,000 civilians: military
April 20, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan security forces captured a defence line of cornered Tamil Tiger rebels on Monday and rescued at least 5,000 civilians being held as human shields, a military spokesman said.Soldiers took control of the three-kilometre (two-mile) embankment at Puthumathalan, inside the government-designated “no-fire” zone, spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said. “We captured […]
Sri Lanka external trade shrinks
April 20, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s external trade contracted sharply in February 2009 with the trade gap narrowing 75.5 percent, imports plunging 37.3 percent, exports falling 18.4 percent and remittances also easing 3.8 percent, the Central Bank said. Exports fell to 524.3 million US dollars from 642.6 million US dollars, with tea falling 33.4 […]
US leans on Sri Lanka IMF bailout
April 20, 2009 (LBO) – The United States, which has called for a political package to end Sri Lanka’s internal conflict and expressed concern over civilians caught in fighting, is flexing its muscles over an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout for the island.Sri Lanka has applied for at least 1.9 billion US dollars from the […]
Sri Lanka to chair regional forum at Washington meet: CB chief
April 20, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will chair a meeting of South Asian central bank chiefs on the sidelines of International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings later this week, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said. To develop domestic-oriented economy or successfully ‘stimulate’ an economy through looser policy (money printing) a country has […]
Losing Proposition
April 18, 2009 (LBO)- During the three decades beginning from 1978, Sri Lanka had recorded on average an annual inflation rate of slightly over 11 percent. During the same period, its annual average economic growth rate amounted to 5 percent. These two macroeconomic numbers have prompted many to argue that inflation does not matter since, […]
Sri Lanka war zone: 3,000 civilians flee, military says
April 19, 2009 (AFP) – Nearly 3,000 civilians escaped from Sri Lanka’s war zone and sought shelter with security forces, the defence ministry said Sunday as troops stepped up an offensive against cornered Tiger rebels.The non-combatants escaped Saturday evening from the remaining area under the control of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the […]
Sri Lanka Tiger chief not seen as troops close in
April 19, 2009 (AFP) – As Sri Lanka’s decades-long civil war moves into what appears to be a bloody end game, all eyes are on a small strip of coastal jungle, looking for signs of the elusive leader of the Tamil Tigers. The rotund rebel chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, a 54-year-old with decades of experience surviving […]