Tag: Finance

LONDON, February 7, 2010 (AFP) – Britain is to cut the number of visas it hands out to foreign students in a bid to stop people breaking the rules by working illegally, officials said Saturday. The change, which comes after Prime Minister Gordon Brown ordered a review of the system at the end of last […]

Feb 05, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s ‘apparent lack of urgency’ to stop rising inflation and post election spending may put pressure on a deal agreed with the International Monetary Fund, Standard & Poor’s, a rating agency has said. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, re-elected with a stronger mandate, had a “unique opportunity” to “implement comprehensive fiscal […]

February 4, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Thursday issued an independence day call for unity and reconciliation after his victory in a bitterly fought election. Rajapakse in an address to the nation said the island’s freedom day assumed great significance as it was the first since the defeat of separatist Tamil […]

SAO PAULO, January 31, 2010 (AFP) – Fears of a speculative asset bubble and moves by China to rein in an overheating economy have taken their toll on Brazil, eroding equity prices and the national currency, the real. The strongest warning for Latin America’s biggest economy, still seen as one of the most attractive of […]

FRANKFURT, (AFP) – European Central Bank policymakers will confront mounting eurozone financial tensions at a meeting Thursday in the face of a brewing crisis brought on by Greece’s spectacular public deficit and debt. That the ECB’s main interest rate will stay unchanged at a record low of one percent is considered a done deal for […]

DAVOS, January 30, 2010 (AFP) – IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said Saturday that state debt will become the world’s biggest economic problem and some countries will need seven years to fix their finances. “The fiscal sustainability problem is going to be one of the biggest, maybe the biggest problem for the coming … several years,” […]

Jan 30, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is saving and investing too little and spending too much and the country is also getting less returns than more efficient economies for the money spent to boost capital stock, a top economist has said. Countries that invest more will generate higher levels of growth and incomes. East […]

Jan 29, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state investment promotion agency is standing by to support businessmen who want to start investing now that the polls are over, its chief Dhammika Perera said. “The presidential elections are over,” Perera said. “Now is the time for everyone to leave the elections behind and put their plans […]

Jan 28, 2010 (LBO) – Inflation in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo accelerated to 6. 5 percent in January 2010 from a year earlier, up from 4.8 percent December while prices increased 1.4 percent during the month, the government’s statistics office said. Sri Lanka’s Colombo consumer price index (CCPI) has been rising steadily after April 2009 […]

Jan 28, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s policy direction is clearer after a President Rajapaksa was returned to power with a bigger majority allowing investors to emerge from any ‘wait and see’ attitude, a top official said. “The mandate means we have a clear path chartered for the next six years,” Central Bank governor Nivard […]

January 27, 2010 (AFP) – President Mahinda Rajapakse has taken the lead in Sri Lanka’s tense election, officials said Wednesday, but the opposition said it was on course for power despite a row over its candidate’s eligibility. Election officials said Rajapakse, who is being challenged by his former army chief Sarath Fonseka, had won over […]

January 25, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka goes to the polls Tuesday in its first post-war presidential election, contested by the men who ended the island nation’s 37-year conflict but whose bitter clash threatens more instability. “If there is a war, we will face it,” he added, threatening street protests and rallies. Rajapakse, like Fonseka […]