Tag: Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka non-state sector to bear adjustment burden under IMF deal
Sept 03, 2009 (LBO) – Workers in Sri Lanka’s private sector and their workplaces will bear the brunt of an adjustment to stabilize the economy under an International Monetary Fund backed program, economists have said.Under an IMF stand-by loan, Sri Lanka is planning a 7.0 budget deficit and 5.0 percent deficit over two years.Officials are […]
US, press groups condemn Sri Lanka over jailed journalist
September 1, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka faced a barrage of criticism on Tuesday for sentencing a journalist to 20 years of hard labour, led by US condemnation and warnings about censorship from press freedom groups.Human Rights Watch urged Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse to overturn the Colombo High Court order that on Monday convicted […]
‘s sentence
PARIS, September 1, 2009 (AFP) – France sharply rebuked the government of Sri Lanka on Tuesday after a court there sentenced a reporter to 20 years in prison on terrorism charges related to his alleged ties to Tamil rebels. “J.S. Tissainayagam was given this heavy sentence simply for carrying out his profession as a journalist,” […]
Sri Lanka stands ground over jailing of journalist
September 2, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Wednesday rejected international criticism of the sentencing of a journalist to 20 years of hard labour over his alleged links to Tamil Tiger separatist rebels.The foreign ministry in Colombo said the widespread condemnation, led by the United States and media rights groups, was an attempt at “undermining […]
Sri Lanka jailed reporter named winner of Peter Mackler Award
WASHINGTON, August 31, 2009 (AFP) – J.S. Tissainayagam, a Sri Lankan reporter sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison, has been named the first winner of the Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism.“We are happy to reward J.S. Tissainayagam in 2009, a terrible year for Sri Lanka,” said Jean-Francois Julliard, secretary-general of the […]
Sri Lankans among 470 children under British immigration detention: report
LONDON, August 31, 2009 (AFP) – More than 400 children were being held in British immigration detention centres with their families, a report said Monday, citing official figures. The Home Office said: “The UK Border Agency fully recognises its responsibilities towards children but these responsibilities have to be exercised alongside our duty to enforce the […]
Sri Lanka August inflation 0.9-pct
Aug 31, 2009 (LBO) – Consumer prices in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo moved up 0.9 percent from a year earlier, compared with 1.1 percent in July, the government’s statistics office said. In the month of August, prices fell 0.3 percent. Un-adjusted inflation was 1.1 percent in July. Prices adjusted for seasonal changes, which is a […]
Sri Lanka economists look for recovery at annual parley
Aug 31, 2009 (LBO) – The way forward following the fallout of a global economic slump that triggered a balance of payments crisis and a slowdown in island will be the focus of a conference of Sri Lanka’s economists later this month.Sri Lanka Association of Economists (SLAE) will hold its 2009 annual session on September […]
Sri Lanka promotes investment with Thailand after war
Aug 30, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is promoting new joint ventures with Thailand after the end of a 30-year war in the island, organizers of an investment conference in Colombo that is opening Monday said. More than a 100 top Sri Lankan enterprises from private and public sectors will participate in the conference, Wickramanayaka […]
Sri Lankans ask whether the US is a socialist state
Aug 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sweeping ‘nationalization’ of collapsing banks, state mandated mortgage lending and centrally planned interest rates has made the USA a socialist state, Sri Lankan viewers of a film on the US economic collapse said.Paulson, the multitude of bankers and financial journalists repeatedly said in the film, had made ‘mistakes,’ in being […]
Sri Lanka columnist shortlisted for Bastiat online journalism prize
Aug 28, 2009 (LBO) – Rohan Samarajiva, who writes Lanka Business Online’s ‘Choices’ column has been shortlisted for the 2009 Bastiat Prize for online journalism along with two others who write for Britain’s Telegraph and US based Forbes. Samarajiva, who heads LirneAsia, a policy research body, has been writing LBO’s widely read ‘Choices’ column from […]
Sri Lanka war, BOP crisis no longer hurt rating; budgets a problem: Fitch official
Aug 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s internal conflict and a balance of payments crisis that led to a rating downgrade and a negative outlook have now been wiped off the slate, but weak state revenues and high national debt are hurting Sri Lanka’s rating, a senior Fitch official said. In April 2008, Fitch downgraded […]