Tag: Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka frees priests from war camps
August 26, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Wednesday freed nearly 600 Hindu and Catholic priests who were held in internment camps with ethnic Tamils displaced by fighting between troops and separatist rebels, officials said.The clergy were allowed to leave the camps in the northern district of Vavuniya, where 300,000 inmates are detained under tight […]
Sri Lanka draws Japanese investor interest
Aug 26, 2009 (LBO) – A 40-member Japanese trade and investment mission is due to visit Sri Lanka in November 2009 following the end of the island’s 30-year ethnic war, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said.Members of the mission during their visit will take part in the Japan – Sri Lanka Business Co-operation Committee meeting […]
Sri Lanka pro-poor effort hit by political interference: ADB
Aug 26, 2009 (LBO) – Political interference and overlapping functions of government agencies have seriously weakened Sri Lanka’s efforts to help the poor and might even perpetuate poverty, a new Asian Development Bank report says. The public sector is too big, confused and lacks accountability, the report on ‘Poverty and human development in Sri Lanka’ […]
Sri Lanka foreign reserves US$3.2bn: CB governor
Aug 25, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves have topped 3.2 billion dollars after a large inflow into the country’s government securities market, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said. “You will see enormous opportunities,” Cabraal told a forum on Islamic financial instruments organized by Rating Agency Malaysia in Colombo. “There will be extraordinary positions […]
Sri Lankan court bails war-zone doctors
August 24, 2009 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan magistrate on Monday bailed four doctors held for allegedly spreading rebel propaganda before the defeat of the Tamil Tigers. The doctors were arrested in May after they left an area where security forces fought the final battle against the separatist rebels. “They have been asked to post […]
” by S&P
Aug 25, 2009 (LBO) – Standard & Poor’s has lifted the outlook on Sri Lanka’s speculative ‘B’ sovereign rating to ‘stable’ from ‘negative’ on expectations of better policy under an International Monetary Fund program and capital inflows. A sovereign rating measures the creditworthiness of the government. Sri Lanka’s high spending governments, that frequently borrows from […]
Sri Lanka firms told socially responsible investing does pay
Aug 25, 2009 (LBO) – Companies should look closely at socially responsible business practices as they are more profitable and opens the door to alternative investments, a senior official from the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) said. “Socially responsible investment advocates argue that screening helps eliminate companies that have risks that are generally not recognized by […]
Sri Lanka eyes peace dividend after crushing Tigers
August 23, 2009 (AFP) – Conflict-torn Sri Lanka is banking on foreign cash to rebuild shattered infrastructure as the island emerges from decades of ethnic civil war, officials say.Analysts are expecting a large investment peace dividend in the country where bomb attacks and fighting dented investor confidence and kept high-spending tourists away from the tropical […]
‘s weary war refugees face monsoon misery
August 23, 2009 (AFP) – Tamil civilians who lived through the vicious final battle of Sri Lanka’s separatist war are now locked in another struggle for survival with heavy rains bringing misery to the camps they call home.Nearly 300,000 people displaced by the fighting between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels are held in what […]
Sri Lanka monetary authority in offbeat IMF-style deal with US fund
Aug 22, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank has acquired 875 million US dollars from a large US fund in an offbeat deal effectively by-passing the domestic money system that boosts forex reserves without creating domestic inflationary or exchange rate pressure.But the by-pass also meant that the money is not available for Sri Lanka’s […]
US warns of conditions in Sri Lanka camps
WASHINGTON, August 19, 2009 (AFP) – The United States on Wednesday renewed its call for Sri Lanka to release more than 250,000 Tamil war refugees from their camps, warning of the potential for disease.Heavy rains this week flooded nearly 2,000 makeshift shelters in the camps, where people displaced by war have been detained since the […]
Bunker Share
Aug 20, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka unit of Indian Oil Corporation has about a third of the bunkering market barely 10 months after starting ship fuel sales at Colombo port, a top official said.“We started last November and we have about 35 percent market shares,” Lanka IOC managing director Suresh Kumar said. “Bunkering […]