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Sri Lankan stocks close down
Mar 31, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed down on Tuesday, dragged down by blue chips such as John Keells Holdings (JKH) and National Development Bank (NDB) on low volume trades despite inflation and interest rates coming down, brokers said. Dialog Telekom, a subsidiary of Telekom Malaysia, closed flat at 4.90 rupees. The All […]
Sri Lanka, Nepal mull tourism, air links
Mar 31, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka and Nepal are discussing joint tourism packages that combine the attractions of Himalayan hikes with Indian Ocean beaches, the island’s international trade minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris said.Collective action by south Asian countries such as broadening trade in services like tourism could help them better cope with the effects […]
Health Support
March 31, 2009 (LBO) – The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has given equipment and basic medical supplies to Sri Lanka’s health service for use in the north of the country, the US embassy in Colombo said. Sri Lanka’s health ministry will distribute these supplies to hospitals in Vavuniya, Mannar, Trincomalee, and Anuradhapura, where […]
GK Case
Mar 31, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has asked Golden Key Credit Card Company, a collapsed financial firm, and its directors to declare assets and for the island’s banking regulator to probe the firm, lawyers said.Depositors also asked the passports of directors to be impounded, saying one director has already left the country […]
Card Terminals
Mar 31, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan teleco Lanka Bell and EPIC Lanka Technologies, an information technology firm has tied up to provide wireless point of sale terminals to acquire credit card transactions. EPIC Lanka is an 11-year old company dealing in secure electronic payments and information systems security. Lanka Bell operates a fixed access […]
Sri Lankan troops replaced at refugee camps
March 31, 2009 (AFP) – In response to pressure from the United Nations Sri Lanka withdrew its troops from camps for thousands of civilians who have escaped the island’s vicious civil war, a minister said Tuesday.About 61,000 people who have fled the combat zone and are housed in a dozen “welfare camps” will instead be […]
Sri Lanka army slows offensive against Tigers
March 31, 2009 (AFP) – Two months after President Mahinda Rajapakse vowed that the Tamil Tiger rebels would be defeated within days, fighting rages on in Sri Lanka at the cost of escalating military, rebel and civilian lives.Government forces who were advancing into Liberation Tigers’ of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) territory at the rate of more […]
Sri Lanka needs to depreciate rupee: ADB
Mar 31, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should adopt a more flexible exchange rate policy and depreciate the rupee to make exports more competitive and better manage import demand, the Asian Development Bank said.ADB Lead Economist for Sri Lanka Narhari Rao said two issues of concern are the fiscal deficit and the external account in […]
Sri Lanka inflation drops to 5.3-pct in March
Mar 31, 2009 (LBO) – Consumer price inflation in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo dropped to 5.3 percent in the 12-months to March 2009 from 7.6 percent in February, with prices dropping for six straight months, the government’s statistics office said. Consumer prices have dropped absolutely from October 2008, when the revised Colombo Consumer Price Index […]
Sri Lanka reconstruction after war could stimulate economy: ADB
Mar 31, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economic growth will slow down this year but could revive the next helped by reconstruction activity expected with the end of the war against Tamil Tigers, the Asian Development Bank said.The ADB report said the island economy remained resilient last year, bolstered by strong growth in the agriculture […]
Sri Lanka stocks close down despite Light House deal
Mar 30, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed down Monday despite large crossings of Lighthouse Hotels Limited (LHL) which went through during the last minutes of trading at a premium, brokers said. The All Share Price Index was down 0.23 percent (3.85 points) to end at 1,644.59 while the more liquid Milanka slid 0.23 […]
Rating Cut
Mar 30, 2009 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has downgraded the long-term rating of Singer Finance (Lanka) Limited (SFL) to BBB-(lka) from ‘BBB(lka)’.The outlook is ‘stable’. “SFL’s rating is linked to Singer Sri Lanka PLC’s (Singer), of which it is a fully-owned subsidiary, and takes into account the implied support assumed to be available from Singer, […]