Tag: economy

August 5, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president brushed aside protests from animal rights activists Wednesday when he formally gifted two baby elephants separated from their mothers to a Buddhist temple.President Mahinda Rajapakse presented the “guardianship” of the two calves to top Buddhist monks at a ceremony in the central town of Kandy, his office […]

VAVUNIYA, August 5, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Wednesday allowed 1,100 people displaced during the recently-ended ethnic conflict with the Tamil Tigers to return home, in the first phase of an ambitious relocation plan. At a colourful ceremony, senior presidential advisor Basil Rajapakse presented gift packs of food to the group and pledged to […]

August 4, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is getting ready to conduct its first nation-wide census, covering all 25 administrative districts for the first time in 30-years following the end of a decades long war, an official said.“The next census will be held in 2011, and we are now preparing for it, and we will […]

August 2, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka has offered an amnesty to tens of thousands of soldiers who deserted the army, a spokesman said Sunday, under reforms following the end of the war with separatist Tamil rebels. Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said troops who were absent without leave could report back to their units and be […]

Aug 02, 2009 (LBO) – The Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania are running monetary policy consistent with maintaining their currency pegs, and should adopt the Euro rather than give into devaluation calls, a top monetary economist has said. Some US economists including Paul Krugman and Nouriel Roubini are predicting another wave of defaults […]

Aug 01, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s investment promotion ministry has set up a help desk to promote investments in the island’s former war zone in the north and east, investment promotion minister Anura Yapa said.The unit will help promote business links between the northern and eastern regions and the rest of the country, he […]

Aug 01, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Nations Trust Bank’s ‘A(lka)’ rating has been confirmed with a ‘stable’ outlook by Fitch Ratings, following an 800 million US dollar forex loss, which had resulted in tighter monitoring. But open positions had been created and maintained within the foreign currency banking unit due to lack of independent […]

July 31, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka would have got bilateral help if the International Monetary Fund did not cough up the cash, but the island now had an opportunity to ride on the endorsement by keeping to its targets, a top Indian official has said. Positive Message Though bilateral partners can pump money they […]

July 31, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government has not agreed to cut subsidies such as for fertiliser to get a 2.6 billion dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund, media minister Anura Yapa said. “We are committed to reducing budget the deficit to five percent in 2011 which is meant to help promote economic […]

July 31, 2009 (LBO) – Consumer prices in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo rose 1.1 percent in July from a year earlier, with the price index moving up 0.4 percent in the month, the government’s statistics office said.In June prices hit a low of 0.9 percent from a year earlier. Prices fell in absolute terms for […]

July 31, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government will table in parliament all documents related to a 2.6 billion dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund, junior finance minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said.The government also intends to make savings on defence spending, which has sharply reduced after security forces defeated the Tamil Tiger separatists in May. […]

July 30, 2009 (LBO) – Telecom firms racing to set up networks in Sri Lanka’s war-torn north and east, are being encouraged to share infrastructure under a new rebuilding plan, a top official said.The masterplan includes making it mandatory for at least three operators to share the cost of installing and running network towers, Telecommunications […]