Tag: news
Global press freedom hits fresh lows: watchdog
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2014 (AFP) – World press freedom has hit its lowest level in a decade, amid regression in Egypt, Turkey and Ukraine, and US efforts to curb national security reporting, a survey showed Thursday.The report by Freedom House, which has been conducting annual surveys since 1980, found that the share of the world’s […]
Sri Lanka Muslims seek protection from nationalist hate
COLOMBO, May 2, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Muslim legislators on Friday asked President Mahinda Rajapakse to protect their minority community from “Buddhist extremist elements” blamed for a recent spate of hate attacks. The country is emerging from nearly four decades of ethnic war which according to UN estimates claimed at least 100,000 lives between […]
Shrugging off Q1 stall, Fed keeps tapering stimulus
WASHINGTON, April 30, 2014 (AFP) – The US economy nearly froze in the glacial first quarter but emerging signs of vigor kept the Federal Reserve on its stimulus taper track Wednesday. The GDP data came as the World Bank reported Wednesday that China’s rapidly expanding economy could leapfrog the United States this year to become […]
‘s inflation accelerates to 4.9-pct in April
Apr 30, 3014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s consumer prices rose 4.9 percent in the 12-months to April 2014, accelerating from 4.2 percent in March, data from the state statistics office showed.Sri Lanka’s inflation was relatively low during the past year with credit growth being weak. Prices rose 0.3 percent during April, with the increase coming […]
‘s Ho Chi Minh
Apr 29, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka issued a stamp commemorating Ho Chi Minh, a revolutionary communist leader that led the country to independence from the French who is reputed to have visited the island several times. He had also travelled to Britain the US in the early 1900s and lived and worked in those […]
Sri Lanka firms could gain from cloud computing: SAP
Apr 28, 2014 (LBO) – Companies in Sri Lanka, especially smaller ones, could avoid capital expenditure by using cloud computing to run anything from accounting to procurement and analyze social media, SAP, an information technology firm said. A company could separately purchase services such as accounting, human resources, marketing and sales and procurement, as needed, […]
‘s EPF, ETF: report
Apr 28, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is making fresh attempts to prevent private sector workers from withdrawing their retirement contributions once they reach 55 years of age, a media report said.The Sunday Times newspaper quoting an un-named official source said the Finance Ministry is drafting legislation to change the governing acts of the Employee’s […]
” rating confirmed, foreign debt, deficits high: Fitch
Apr 28, 2014 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has confirmed a ‘BB-‘ rating on Sri Lanka with a stable outlook on strong economic growth but said state debt was over twice that of similar rated countries and foreign debt three times as much. “The 2014 budget signals commitment to medium-term debt reduction to maintain a gradual […]
Sri Lanka should clean up its act while resisting external probe: political analyst
Apr 26, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should improve rights of citizens while resisting an international inquiry planned into alleged war crimes by UN’s Human Rights Council and also strengthen relations with India, a political analyst said.“The international inquiry has to be resisted because it has no precedent,” Dayan Jayatillaka, former diplomat and political analyst, […]
‘s interest: envoy
Apr 25, 2014 (LBO) – Economic sanctions on Sri Lanka are not in the interests of his country, and movers of a UN resolution are expecting progress which would make such questions redundant, UK’s envoy to Colombo said. “Sanctions are not currently an issue,” High Commissioner (ambassador) John Rankin told an LBR-LBO CEO forum on […]
Sri Lanka parliament approves tax breaks for Crown, JKH resorts
April 25, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s parliament has approved tax breaks for integrated resorts by Australia’s Crown group and Colombo-based John Keells group.The projects have drawn opposition fire for having gaming facilities with tax breaks. Sri Lanka’s Bhuddist nationalist JHU voted against, the proposals, reports said. Government ministers have insisted that no approvals have […]
New Zealand hikes interest rates again
WELLINGTON, April 24, 2014 (AFP) – New Zealand’s central bank lifted interest rates for the second time in as many months on Thursday, saying it was necessary to contain inflation as an economic recovery gains momentum.The Reserve Bank of New Zealand raised the official cash rate (OCR) 0.25 points to 3.0 percent in a well-flagged […]