Tag: Sri Lanka
Vietnam to open Sri Lanka embassy early 2011
July 25, 2010 (LBO) – Vietnam will open an embassy in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo in early 2011, a joint statement following a meeting of deputy foreign ministers of the two countries on the sidelines of a regional group meeting said. Minister Gunawardena had requested co-operation from Vietnam in security intelligence to combat activities of […]
Sri Lanka to make better use of idle state assets
July 23, 2010 (LBO ) – Sri Lanka will set up a state company to develop joint ventures and lease assets of other failed state companies with a capital of 100 million rupees, without ‘privatizing’ them, a government minister said. The State Resources Management Corporation will make better use of state assets which are uneconomical, […]
US urges Sri Lanka to improve rights, media freedom
July 21, 2010 (AFP) – The United States pressed Sri Lanka on Wednesday to improve human rights and media freedoms amid charges that security forces committed war crimes during the last days of the island’s civil war. During a one-day visit, US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake said reconciliation must play a key role […]
Sri Lanka business wants action on loss-making state entities
July 21, 2010 (LBO) – The head of Sri Lanka’s top business chamber has called for loss-making state entities which are a drain on public finances to be turned around within a strict time frame or more radical alternatives considered. Ceylon Chamber of Commerce chairman Anura Ekanayake said recent reductions in inflation and interest rates […]
Sri Lanka central bank independence hurt by law
July 19, 2010 (LBO) – A groundbreaking book by a former Sri Lankan central banker has shown how the institutions independence could be improved so that it can better resist fiscal and political pressure to print money and generate inflation. Economic analysts have warned that direct subscriptions to Treasury bill auctions is a ‘quantity easing’ […]
Sri Lankan central banker writes pro-poor book
July 17, 2010 (LBO) – A former Sri Lankan central banker has written a book that can open the eyes of third world policy makers and impoverished citizens helping them escape state-induced poverty caused by high inflation. “Money does not raise economic growth, but it is the fundamental cause of high rate of inflation that […]
Sri Lanka former war zone economy grows: central bank
July 16, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s northern and eastern provinces slightly increased their share of national Gross Domestic Product last year compared with 2008 following the end of a war, the Central Bank said. The western province remained as the highest contribution to GDP in 2009 but its share reduced further to 45. 1 […]
Sri Lanka mobile users up 30-pct in first quarter
July 15, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s mobile phone subscribers grew 30 percent to 15. 0 million in the first quarter of 2010, while fixed wireless users grew 4.7 percent and wireline users were flat, official data show. Fixed wireless subscribers grew to 2. 58 million users in the first quarter from 2. 47 users […]
Indonesia lukewarm on Australia asylum centre plan
JAKARTA, July 15, 2010 (AFP) – Indonesia gave a lukewarm response Thursday to Australia’s plans for a processing centre for asylum-seekers in East Timor, saying it was only a part of a regional solution to people-smuggling. The comments by Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa came after he agreed to meet his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith, […]
IMF to hire more Asians
Daejeon, KOREA July 14, 2010 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) plans to hire more Asians as it undergoes reforms and seeks to improve relations with Asia which is increasing its economic clout, a senior official said. Strauss-Kahn said that now 40 percent of his management team is from Asia. “So among the management […]
Sri Lankan cabinet meets in former Tiger capital
KILINOCHCHI, July 14, 2010 (AFP) – The president of Sri Lanka held a cabinet meeting on Wednesday in the northern town of Kilinochchi, the capital of the Tamil Tigers rebels until they were finally defeated last year. Rajapakse’s military offensive triggered international calls for a war crimes probe. The separatist guerrillas controlled one-third of Sri […]
IMF facilities seen as alternative for forex reserves
Daejeon, KOREA July 13, 2010 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is considering creating new lending facilities to help countries cope with economic shocks and avoid the need to build costly foreign exchange reserves, officials said. Senior official from the IMF and South Korea, which is pushing the idea, said such a ‘global safety […]