Category:
Sri Lanka tightens corn imports
March 19, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has tightened rules on corn imports to arrest falling domestic farm gate prices with a record area under cultivation this year, a government minister said.For the 2008/2009 cultivation season 65,850 hectares of corn are expected to be put under the crop and 60,582 has already been planted. The […]
Sri Lanka to protest against pro-Tiger rallies abroad
March 19, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka will lodge strong protests with countries where there have been demonstrations in favour of the island’s separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, a minister said Thursday.Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said pro-rebel sympathisers have been staging demonstrations in Australia, Belgium, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United […]
More civilians flee Sri Lanka fighting: military
March 19, 2009 (AFP) – Civilians are continuing to flee Sri Lanka’s war zone as security forces step up an offensive against Tamil Tigers, with another 31 rebels killed, the defence ministry said Thursday.About 1,000 men, women and children left the area still under the control of the rebels on Wednesday to seek shelter with […]
Sri Lanka Allianz unit pre-tax profit up
March 19, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka unit of Allianz Insurance, a German insurer, said net profit before tax rose 63 percent to 86 million rupees in 2008 from 53 million rupees in 2007.Allianz Lanka said in a statement its pure Underwriting Profit comprises more than 47 percent of the total profit component. The […]
UN urged to act over jailed Sri Lankan reporters
March 18, 2009 (AFP) – A media rights group on Wednesday urged the United Nations to intervene on behalf of two Sri Lankan journalists being held on charges related to the war against the separatist Tamil Tiger guerrillas. The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said J.S. Tissainayagam has been held under an anti-terrorism law for […]
Sri Lanka gets US$85mn from ADB for water supply
March 19, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will get 85 million US dollars in loans and grants from the Asian Development Bank for water supply and sanitation in four regional urban areas, a government minister said. The National Water Supply and Drainage Board will use the funds to rehabilitate and develop water and sanitation infrastructure […]
Sri Lanka puts on brave face before IMF bailout
March 19, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is putting on a brave face after being forced into an International Monetary Fund bailout having spent its way into trouble and busted up billions of dollars of foreign reserves on an ill-fated peg defence exercise.“This is a special measure taken by the IMF to help countries cope […]
Sri Lanka cuts policy rate, lifts import curbs
Mar 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has cut its de facto main signal policy rate that sets the ceiling on Interbank borrowing rates by 175 basis points to 14.75 percent, and also lifted margins on import letters of credit set late last year, the Central Bank said. The regulator has also eased curbs on […]
‘s foreign reserves fall to US$1.4bn in Jan 09
Mar 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s gross official reserves fell to 1,415 million US dollars from 1,753.4 million dollars in December 2008, which was enough to cover 1.3 months of imports, the Central Bank said. With Asian Clearing Union balances, reserves were 1,703 million US dollars. But imports were contracting sharply amid a global […]
Sri Lankan shares driven up by big banking deals
Mar 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed up Wednesday boosted by large sales of blue chip bank stocks believed to have been divested by Sri Lankan born fund manager, Raj Rajaratnam’s, New York-based Galleon Fund, brokers said. The All Share Price Index was up 0.40 percent (6.51 points) to end at 1,618.84 while […]
Indian government faces elections as economy dives
NEW DELHI, March 18, 2009 (AFP) – Nineteen-year-old Souraj Thapa has never heard of the global financial crisis, but he’s finding that his job chances are drying up. “I’ve been to three companies but they’re not hiring,” said Thapa, a delivery courier in the Indian capital whose previous company went out of business and who […]
Sri Lanka says EU diplomats may visit war-torn north
March 18, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Wednesday it would open up its war-torn north to international scrutiny, days after the UN said it suspected war crimes were being committed in the fight against Tamil rebels.A foreign ministry official said talks were under way to give a European Union fact-finding mission access to the […]