Sri Lanka court grants bail for detained editor

April 7, 2011 (AFP) – The editor of a pro-opposition Sri Lankan news website was released on bail Thursday, a week after his arrest sparked protests from international media rights groups. Bennet Rupasinghe had been taken into police custody on charges of allegedly threatening a suspect wanted for a January arson attack on the offices […]

Sri Lanka to get $300mn a year for infrastructure from ADB

Apr 07, 2011 (LBO) – The Asian Development Bank would finance Sri Lanka with about 300 million dollars annually over the next few years, with roads, water supply and sanitation getting attention, officials said. In the past three years Sri Lanka had got nearly a billion dollars of Asia Development Financing, with a peak of […]

Sri Lanka HSBC, British Council backs students in business

Apr 06, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan students studying at universities, private higher education institutions, vocational and professional bodies can win seed capital to start a business in contest launched by the British Council and HSBC bank. Aspiring students will have to submit a business plan to start enterprises in fashion design, architecture, crafts, tourism, […]

Sri Lanka may need monetary tightening: ADB

Apr 06, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka may need monetary tightening later in the year to contain rising inflation and maintain export competitiveness, though growth will be strong for the next two years, the Asian Development Bank said. A central bank inflates an economy mainly by a coercive legal tender law that forces people to […]

Sri Lanka ties held back by rights concerns, US says

WASHINGTON, April 5, 2011 (AFP) – The United States said Tuesday that future cooperation with Sri Lanka depended on improvements in its human rights record and an accounting of the bloodshed at the end of the island’s civil war. With its strategic location and contributions to global peacekeeping, Sri Lanka “is poised to be a […]

Sri Lanka and IMF to discuss ways to rope in excess money

Apr 06, 2011 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund will discuss ways to deal with the excess money in Sri Lanka’s banking system in a bid to contain further inflation from being generated through the pegged monetary system. Sri Lanka’s central bank allowed inflation hit 8. 6 percent in the 12-months to March 2011 prompting […]

Half Share

Apr 05, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Laugfs Gas will get 50 percent of the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) produced by state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, up from an earlier 30 percent on a presidential directive, the company said. The directive followed an April 04 meeting with the President attended by Treasury Secretary P B Jayasundera, […]

Sri Lanka gets more IMF cash; warned on excess liquidity

Apr 05, 2011 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund has given Sri Lanka 218. 3 million dollars under its 2.5 billion US dollar program but called on the Central Bank to tighten liquidity management to prevent further inflation. Authorities expect Sri Lanka to generate less inflation after April. Sri Lanka is also expected to change […]

Sri Lanka IMF targets waived due to lack of data: official

Apr 05, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s requirement for targets under an International Monetary Fund was “waived” because data was not available in time and not because they were missed, an official said. IMF’s Colombo representative Koshy Mathai said the lender gave the latest tranche despite the data not being available all the indications pointed […]

Sri Lanka dam safety confab gets Dutch expertise

Apr 04, 2011 (LBO) – A Dutch expert will lead an annual forum on disaster risk organized by LirneAsia, a regional policy research body that has been active on improving dam safety policies in Sri Lanka which is an island dotted with thousands of reservoirs. LirneAsia says Sri Lanka has 12,000 small dams and 350 […]

Euro up amid eurozone rate hike expectations

SINGAPORE, April 4, 2011 (AFP) – The euro strengthened against the dollar in Asia on Monday as investors moved into the single currency before an expected interest rate hike by the region’s central bank, analysts said. The euro bought $1.4227 in afternoon Asian trade, up from . 4225 late Friday in New York. It changed […]

Sri Lanka university incentives not limited for foreign parties: official

Apr 04, 2011 (LBO) – Incentives given for new private universities will be open to all qualified parties and is not limited to foreign universities, Sri Lanka’s higher education ministry secretary Sunil Nawaratne said. “If you are not in the government you are eligible,” Nawaratne told a forum of state and private educators called together […]

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