Sri Lanka seeks help for 90,000 war widows: minister

September 29, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is seeking foreign help to care for nearly 90,000 women who have been widowed due to the island’s Tamil separatist war which ended last year, a minister said Wednesday. Child Development and Women’s Affairs Minister M. L. A. M. Hizbullah told reporters some 12,000 war widows were below […]

Sri Lanka inflation accelerates to 5.8-pct in September

Sept 30, 2010 (LBO) – Consumer prices in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo rose 5. 8 percent in September from a year earlier, accelerating from 5.0 percent in August, the government’s statistics office said. “What is important here is that we have not only been able to deal with inflation, but we have also been able […]

Sri Lanka revised IMF deal focuses on budget

Sept 27, 2010 (LBO) – A revised program Sri Lanka has signed with the International Monetary Fund is allowing more monetary space for the central bank with responsible fiscal policy continuing to be the key focus. A revised letter of intent given by the government has made a deposit insurance scheme for banks, reducing tax […]

Sri Lanka gets more IMF cash, suggests new monetary framework

Sept 25, 2010 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund has released 212. 5 million US dollars to Sri Lanka under its 2.5 billion US dollar program, backed reform proposals and suggested that the central bank move away from its quantity targeting monetary framework. “Further improvements in monetary policy formulation will provide useful support for macroeconomic […]

Sri Lanka private sector employees to get new pension scheme

Sept 24, 2010 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government plans to introduce a pension scheme for private sector employees soon, Gamini Lokuge, Minister of Labour Relations and Productivity Promotion, said. Lokuge also said the pension payments will be made up to the death of the recipient and their dependents will not be entitled to it. […]

Sri Lanka may deduct more money from private worker salaries

Sept 24, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government may take away more money from the salaries of private sector workers to set up another pension fund, a government minister said, amid concerns about the management of an existing fund. A few years ago an attempt to create a contributed pension fund for state workers was […]

Sri Lanka tax appeals process seen flawed, unjust

Sept 23, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tax payers are at the mercy of an unfair system with no proper appeal mechanism and aging members of a review board not bothering to turn up for hearings, an expert said. “Some members do not bother to turn up for the hearing of an appeal and delegate […]

Sri Lanka upgrades growth forecast for 2010

Sept 23, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has upgraded its growth forecast to between 7.5 to 8.0 percent for 2010, on a better than expected second quarter economic expansion and stronger credit flows, Central Bank governor Nivard Cabraal said. The central bank which cut policy rates for two months in a row held rates in […]

”’s

Sept 22, 2010 (LBO) – Moody’s Investors Service said it had given a ‘B1’ sovereign rating for Sri Lanka with a ‘stable’ outlook on the end of a war, low inflation and efforts to contain the budget deficit, despite having high levels of debt. “The stable outlook also considers Sri Lanka’s small size, partial dollarization, […]

Sri Lanka B+ sovereign rating outlook lifted to positive: Fitch

Sept 21, 2010 (LBO) – The outlook on Sri Lanka’s ‘B+’ sovereign rating has been lifted to ‘positive’ from ‘stable’ on the end of a 30-year war and an agreement with the International Monetary Fund. The full statement issued by Fitch is reproduced below: Fitch Ratings has today affirmed Sri Lanka’s Long-term foreign and local […]

Sri Lankans among Sydney rooftop protesters: refugee activist

SYDNEY, September 21, 2010 (AFP) – A group of protesting asylum-seekers Tuesday threatened to leap from the roof of a Sydney detention centre where a Fijian man plunged to his death a day earlier, an activist told AFP. Bala Vigneswaran of the Australian Tamil Congress said nine Sri Lankan Tamils, who are among 11 protesters […]

Sri Lanka urban development agency making heavy losses

Sept 20, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Urban Development Authority (UDA) has been making losses from 2006 and the accumulated loss by December 2009 was 1.1 billion rupees, its debenture prospectus has revealed. People occupying state-owned land are to be resettled and the property they were on are to be opened up for development by […]

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