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Sri Lankan markets jittery as bullets fly ahead of next week’s budget
November 10, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lankan share prices are breaking records amidst flying bullets, but financial markets are uneasy that the government may use next Thursday’s budget to tax capital gains, analysts said. One of Asia’s best performing indexes, the island’s tiny stockmarket is up over 30 percent since January, largely on deal making […]
’07 budget may lift taxes, foreign borrowing
November 10, 2006 (Dow Jones)–The Sri Lankan government is likely to lift taxes and increase foreign borrowing in its 2007 budget in a bid to meet bloated defense costs and fund large development projects, say analysts. They expect the budget deficit next year at 7.5%-8.0% of gross domestic product, down from an expected 9% this […]
Flying Cheap
SINGAPORE, Nov 10, 2006 (AFP) – Costs, not competition, worry Tony Fernandes of AirAsia Bhd, who said Friday he foresees continued expansion for the Malaysian-based lowcost pioneer. “The only thing that we worry about is our cost,” said Fernandes, the airline’s group chief executive. “There can be a hundred low cost carriers out there. It […]
Robust Growth
November 10, 2006 (LBO) – Commercial Bank of Ceylon, one of Sri Lanka’s most profitable commercial banks, Friday posted a 40 percent growth in net profits for the nine months ended Sept. 30, helped partly by capital gains from selling part of shares in DFCC Bank. During the period, the bank also hired Hewitt Outsourcing […]
Sri Lanka reports 12% drop in tourist in Oct; lowest monthly decline since Dec. ˜05
November 10, 2006 (LBO) – Holidaymakers to Sri Lanka fell 12.0 percent for the 12 months to October, the Sri Lanka Tourist Board said Friday, amidst soaring violence in the North and East. Sri Lanka greeted 38,815 visitors in October, the largest monthly decline since December 2005, as government troops and Tamil Tigers stepped up […]
Dialling Up
November 10, 2006 (LBO) – Telecom operator Suntel, a unit of Sweden’s Overseas Telecom AB, plans to spend 3.5 billion rupees next year to expand its network, officials said Friday. Suntel’s other key shareholders includes: Metrocorp (Pvt) Ltd., Townsend Limited of Hong Kong, the NDB Bank, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – a member […]
The Drift
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 9, 2006 (AFP) – A Helio mobile telephone service launched in the United States on Thursday lets users track friends and plot routes using satellite-mapping technology. Helio’s Drift model telephone, custom-built by South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, has a “Buddy Beacon” feature that maps the whereabouts of as many as 25 selected people […]
‘s costly fees drive foreign students into sex work: study
SYDNEY, Nov 10, 2006 (AFP) – The crippling cost of studying in Australia is forcing foreign students to take up risky sex work to make ends meet, a researcher said Friday.A sharp rise in university fees in recent years and visas that restrict international students’ working hours had driven some into illegal prostitution, Sarah Lantz […]
Asia on brink of diabetes disaster, experts warn
PARIS, Nov 10, 2006 (AFP) – Health services across Asia could crash in the face of a worsening epidemic of obesity-led diabetes, experts warn. The more common Type 2 diabetes results mainly from an unhealthy diet and inactivity. In 2003, 194 million people in Asia had diabetes and by 2025, the tally could be 333 […]
‘s poorest
WASHINGTON, Nov 10, 2006 (AFP) – What do Bill Gates, Queen Sofia of Spain, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and billionaire philanthropist George Soros all have in common?They all believe that small business loans known as microcredit can help lift tens of millions of the world’s poorest people, who mainly live across Asia, out […]
Tamil MP killed amid heavy Sri Lanka fighting
Nov 10, 2006 (AFP) – Gunmen assassinated a pro-rebel Tamil MP in the capital Colombo Friday as Sri Lanka’s warring parties fought fresh battles and faced rising international condemnation over civilian killings.“They are clearly not going to get a solution through violence,” Boucher warned.Unidentified gunmen shot dead legislator Nadarajah Raviraj, 44, and his bodyguard as […]
Sea battles in Sri Lanka, government under fire over killings
Nov 10, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil rebels and Sri Lanka’s navy fought a fierce sea battle Friday amid mounting international condemnation over heavy civilian casualties in the separatist conflict. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) destroyed two naval gunboats in fighting overnight Thursday, with the navy hitting back in the morning and destroying two […]