Sri Lanka Central Bank cuts policy interest rates by 50bp

Sept 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank said it had decided to reduce policy interest rates by 50 basis points each from Friday with the repurchase rate to be 8.00 percent and reverse repurchase rate 10.50 percent. It said in a statement its Monetary Board decided to cut rates as inflation was low […]

‘s Sri Lanka expulsion

UNITED NATIONS, September 8, 2009 (AFP) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon Tuesday denounced a decision by the Sri Lankan government to expel a UNICEF spokesman, who allegedly took a pro-rebel stance at the end of the island’s ethnic war. “The secretary-general strongly regrets the decision of the Sri Lankan government to expel Mr.James Elder,” Ban’s […]

Gold higher, the best bet in uncertain times

PARIS, September 9, 2009 (AFP) – Gold is back in favour, hitting 18-month highs above 1,000 dollars as investors hedge their bets on the dollar in a global economy struggling out of its worst slump in decades, analysts said. Gold is the ultimate store of value when all else fails and in uncertain times like […]

Bursting economic bubble may have averted greater disaster ahead: Sri Lanka CB chief

Sept 08, 2009 (LBO) – The bursting of a global economic bubble in 2007-2008 may have averted greater disaster ahead, but the global financial community must implement a new framework to prevent recurrences, Sri Lanka’s central bank chief has said. Cabraal said complex financial instruments, especially derivatves, should be subjected to tighter rules and like […]

” UN official expulsion: official

September 7, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is reviewing a move to expel a senior United Nations official over comments he made during the final weeks of the country’s decades long ethnic war, a senior official said Monday.James Elder, communications chief for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), was ordered out of the country for […]

Sri Lanka heads for record deficit despite better revenues in June

Sept 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state revenues fell 6.15 percent in June from a year earlier, implying an annualized deficit of 10.8 percent of gross domestic product for 2009, but the gap has narrowed from previous months, the latest official data show. In the 6-months to June the state took away 289.7 billion […]

Sri Lanka expels UN official over war comments

September 6, 2009 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan government said on Sunday it had ordered a senior United Nations official to leave the country over comments he made about the recently ended war against Tamil Tiger separatist rebels. James Elder, spokesman for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), appeared regularly on foreign television news channels […]

Sri Lanka roads closed to keep economy stable

Sep 06, 2009 (LBO) – Some of Sri Lanka’s roads will remain closed despite the end of a 30-year civil war to prevent a post-Soviet style collapse of the economy, the island’s prime minister told Thai investors. “It is true the ongoing battle is over but we are still unearthing and finding various things that […]

EU joins criticism of jailing of Sri Lanka journalist

BRUSSELS, September 3, 2009 (AFP) – The European Union joined Thursday the international outcry over the sentencing to 20 years in jail of a journalist in Sri Lanka for his alleged links to Tamil Tiger rebels.The foreign ministry in Colombo has rejected international criticism of the verdict, which has also come from the United States […]

UN chief, minister discuss plight of displaced Sri Lankans

UNITED NATIONS, September 3, 2009 (AFP) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon met with a Sri Lankan minister in Geneva Thursday to discuss the plight of civilians displaced by the government defeat of the Tamil separatist insurgency earlier this year, his press office said. But she added that UN officials could not confirm its authenticity. The […]

Sri Lanka ex-combatant rehabilitation gets UK backing

Sept 04, 2009 (LBO) – The United Kingdom is giving 17 million rupees to support the rehabilitation of ex-combatants in Sri Lanka conflict by the island’s ministry of justic, the International Organization of Migration (IOM) said.Justice minister Milinda Moragoda has welcomed the support given for the rehabilitation efforts led by his ministry and Sri Lanka’s […]

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