Category:
Branching Out
Mar 30, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Nations Trust Bank (NTB), a unit of John Keells Holdings, is growing its personal banking small business segments to maintain above industry average growth rates during the next four years, an official said. Last year, the bank went through a behind-the-scenes transformation introducing a number of products as […]
Sri Lanka agro firm helps combat mealy bug menace
Mar 30, 2009 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan agro firm has set up a help desk to combat the spread of ‘mealy bug’ which is sweeping through home gardens in the island’s capital Colombo, and is threatening several agro areas. Hayleys Agro says its pesticide ‘Admire SL 20’ has been found to be effective in […]
Growing Pool
Mar 30, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s software export industry said it is trying to promote the island as a BPO (business process outsourcing) destination for finance and accounting outsourcing (FAO). The Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM) and the Information and Communication Technology Agency recently held meetings in London and Barcelona […]
25 killed in Sri Lanka sea battle: navy
March 30, 2009 (AFP) – At least 24 Tamil Tiger rebels and a navy sailor were killed in a major sea battle off Sri Lanka’s northeast coast on Monday, a navy spokesman said. Government forces sank four boats of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) off the coast of Mullaittivu, spokesman D.K. P. Dassanayake […]
Sri Lanka airport firm gets new boss
Mar 30, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government has appointed Prasanna Wickramasuriya as the new chairman of Airport and Aviation Services Ltd., which runs the island’s airports, from Tuesday, an official said.Airport and Aviation Services also provides air traffic control services and manages the Sri Lanka airspace as well as the Colombo flight information […]
Sri Lanka allays private sector fears over trade deals
Mar 30, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government recognises private sector fears of non-tariff barriers in bilateral trade deals and will not open up the economy against its wishes, a senior minister said.The free trade deal with India, for instance, recognised the asymmetric character of the economic ties between the two countries given their differences […]
Sri Lanka IMF talks stretch to second week
Mar 30, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka rupee closed at 115.20/45 against the greenback, with the country’s reserves running low as talks with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package, stretched to a second week. The Sri Lanka rupee broke the Central Bank’s defended peg level of 114.25 last Thursday. The IMF team […]
Number Crunching
Mar 29, 2009 (LBO)- Consciously or unconsciously, we use statistics in everything we do in our day to day life.When we say that it rained yesterday, we simply pronounce a fact we have observed as having happened.When we say that it is raining now, we again mention something that we have observed as happening. When […]
Sri Lanka govt says 46 Tigers killed in fresh fighting
March 29, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan government troops killed at least 46 rebels during weekend battles in the northeast of the island where they have cornered the Tamil Tiger guerrillas, the defence ministry said Sunday.Verification of battlefield claims is almost impossible as the authorities do not allow independent journalists and international observers to travel […]
Foreign aid groups seek access to war-torn Sri Lanka
NEW DELHI, March 28, 2009 (AFP) – A senior European official said Saturday that aid groups want to help Sri Lanka meet the humanitarian needs of civilians in the country’s battle zone and are “not against” the government.Sri Lanka hit back earlier this week against human rights and aid groups, accusing them of supporting the […]
Sri Lanka spends US$240mn in peg defence in Feb09
Mar 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has spent 240 million US dollars in February 2009 defending a dollar peg in an ill-fated exercise that has already drained two-thirds of the country’s foreign reserves, the latest official data shows.Sri Lanka’s gross official reserves, including fiscal balances, fell to 1,415 million US dollars in January from […]
Sri Lankan tea prices fall further
March 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices fell again at this week’s auction as quality dropped with the end of the season and rains in planting districts indicated bigger crops in future, brokers said.“In the Large Leaf catalogues OP1s and OPs were the most affected and marked down by 20 to 30 rupees […]