Tag: economy

Aug 27, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Rank Holdings, a group which has interests in gaming, power and logistics, is planning a 200 million US dollar hotel and residential complex in the capital Colombo with an Indian partner, an official said. The D R Wijewardene property project however dates back from an earlier process a […]

Aug 24, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s construction industry is facing a shortage of about a million 50 kilogram sacks of cement a month, a media report said as price controls limit supplies and threaten the island’s construction sector. Amid the shortages created by price controls, state enterprises have got into the act like in […]

HONG KONG, August 23, 2011 (AFP) – Hong Kong’s inflation has hit a 16-year high and economists warned Tuesday there are signs it will worsen in coming months as runaway housing and food costs continue to besiege the city’s economy. Figures released in the southern Chinese territory Monday showed inflation hit 7.9 percent year-on-year in […]

HONG KONG, August 23, 2011 (AFP) – Gold soared above ,900 an ounce in Hong Kong for the first time on Tuesday as dealers flocked to the safe haven asset due to growing concerns over the state of the global economy. The precious metal was trading at ,914. 50-$1,915.50 an ounce in the morning after […]

BEIJING, August 23, 2011 (AFP) – China hopes its “mutually beneficial” multi-billion dollar trade links with oil-rich Libya will continue, it said Tuesday after rebels came close to ending Moamer Kadhafi’s 42-year rule. China has ploughed billions of dollars into Libya’s rail, oil and telecom sectors, and the commerce ministry said its investments had been […]

Aug 20, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state land sales to private developers must be transparent and all available land must be listed online to boost investor confidence, instead being sold through unsolicited deals, a lawmaker has said. Sri Lanka main opposition United National Party member Harsha de Silva says such deals will harm overall […]

Aug 19, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will budget for a deficit of 6. 2 percent of gross domestic product in 2011 down from a planned gap of 6.8 percent in 2010, information minister Keheliya Rambukwelle said. The government will keep state investments at 6. 0 percent of GDP. The state is planning to bring […]

Aug 19, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s foreign direct investment for the first half of 2011 reached 413 million US dollars putting the country on track for a full year goal of a billion dollars, the Central Bank said. Foreign reserves had reached an all time high of 8,158 million US dollars by August 16. […]

Aug 19, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s policy interests rates are held steady at 7. 00 percent to deposit excess money and 8.50 percent to inject fresh money, though credit growth was higher than expected at 34. 4 percent in July, the central bank said. Credit disbursed to the private sector increased by 34.4 per […]

PARIS, August 17, 2011 (AFP) – The world population will reach seven billion later this year, with increases in the number of people in Africa off-setting birth rate drops elsewhere, according to a new French study published Thursday. “It has increased seven-fold over the last two hundred years, topping seven billion in 2011, and is […]

MUMBAI, August 18, 2011 (AFP) – Gold, at record-breaking levels as global economic worries mount, will see sustained demand from key markets India and China this year despite high prices, the World Gold Council said on Thursday. Global demand for the second quarter to June was 919. 8 tonnes, down 17 percent year-on-year, from 1,107 […]

HAMBANTOTA, August 17, 2011 (AFP) – When the 2004 Asian tsunami hit Sri Lanka, the sleepy fishing region of Hambantota was flattened and 3,000 people perished. Now it is riding a massive wave of construction. Hambantota, the home constituency of President Mahinda Rajapakse, is not only emerging as a commercial and logistics hub of Sri […]