Tag: economy

May 19, 2009 (LBO) – The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said the Sri Lankan government’s victory over Tamil Tiger rebels enables it to turn its efforts towards reviving the economy.“This victory demonstrates the true capabilities of the people of the country when provided with proper leadership and direction,” the chamber said in a statement a […]

WASHINGTON, May 19, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka must step up relief efforts and provide its Tamil minority political autonomy, governments and relief agencies urged after Colombo said it had finally routed the Tamil Tiger rebels.As the military mopped up in the far northeast, the European Union demanded an independent inquiry into allegations of human […]

May 19, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse called for private sector investment and the return of the island’s diaspora to revive the economy of the country which he said had finally been freed of terrorism with the defeat of the Tamil Tigers. “The main obstacle to private sector investment, which had been […]

TOKYO, May 19, 2009 (AFP) – Japan, Sri Lanka’s largest aid donor and the holder of two thirds of its foreign debt, on Tuesday “welcomed the end of the civil war” in the island-nation, the prime minister’s office said. Prime Minister Taro Aso spoke by telephone with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, who had earlier […]

WASHINGTON, May 14, 2009 (AFP) – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said here Thursday it “is not an appropriate time” to consider a massive International Monetary Fund loan for Sri Lanka. Clinton told reporters that the United States has been “trying to convince both sides,” the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger guerrillas, […]

May 15, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka dismissed Friday a US threat to link a nearly two-billion-dollar IMF bailout package to ending the war-torn island’s humanitarian crisis. Despite Clinton’s remarks, Cabraal said he was confident the rescue package would be approved. “There are conflicts in many countries and I don’t think the IMF will set […]

May 15, 2009 (LBO) – International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said Sri Lanka needs the help of the multilateral lending agency and talks were still underway on the IMF loan.He told a news conference Friday that Sri Lanka, which has asked for a 1.9 billion dollar IMF loan, was a “special situation”. Strauss-Kahn […]

May 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said it was “deeply distressed” over doubts raised by Britain’s foreign minister about the use of money from an expected International Monetary Fund loan. IMF money goes into the balance sheet of the central bank, which is a separate entity from the finance ministry. Through the […]

May 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is working on a back-up plan with other countries to boost foreign reserves in addition to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan, Central Bank governor Nivard Cabraal said.“All of us must have a plan A, plan B, plan C and plan D if possible and we are working […]

May 14, 2009 (LBO) – The US Agency for International Development (USAID) said it is providing training scholarships to 500 young people from Sri Lanka’s north and east which is recovering from decades of war.The scholarships are given through the agency’s Unlimited Potential Partnership program (UPP) which currently provides workforce training programs in three key […]

BANDA ACEH, May 14, 2009 (AFP) – Fifty-five Sri Lankan migrants were intercepted Thursday off the coast of western Indonesia as they tried to reach Australia to look for work, police said.Fishermen found the migrants, men aged from 25 to 30, aboard a damaged wooden boat two kilometres (just over a mile) from the coast […]

May 12, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka formally presented its claim for sovereignty over an extended continental shelf around the island under international law to the United Nations last Friday, government officials said. The claim will be considered at the 24th session of the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to be […]