Tag: Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Mercantile Investments rating confirmed by RAM
Aug 14, 2009 (LBO) – RAM Ratings Lanka has confirmed the ‘A’ rating of Mercantile Investments Limited (MIL), a registered finance company in Sri Lanka. with a ‘negative’ outlook. “The negative outlook is premised on the Company’s rising delinquencies, which have been impinging on its financial performance,” RAM ratings said in a statement. “Nonetheless, the […]
Sri Lanka has space for commercial borrowing under IMF program: officials
Aug 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has ample space for foreign borrowing under a 20-month International Monetary Fund program, which has set a ceiling of 1,750 million US dollars for new commercial loans, officials said. A US dollar bond issue, sold mostly to domestic buyers with access to foreign exchange, matures this week. “A […]
Sri Lanka exports, imports fall in June
Aug 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s exports fell 18.0 percent to 3.1 billion US dollars and imports 36.7 percent to 4.4 billion US dollars in the 6-months to June, and the trade deficit contracted 59.9 percent to 1.2 billion US dollars, the central bank said.Agricultural exports were down 18.2 percent to 725.3 million US […]
Sri Lanka lawmaker says election spending should be capped
Aug 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should cap election spending to prevent honest politicians being crowded out and criminal elements entering the parliament, a breakaway ruling party politician has said. “One of the proposals I have submitted for consideration for the next manifesto is to have some form of a cap for election spending […]
US gives food aid to speed up refugee settlement
Aug 10, 2009 (LBO) – The United States said it had donated another 15 million dollars of food to help resettle people displaced by Sri Lanka’s ethnic war whose early return to their homes Washington is pressing for. The US embassy said in a statement the aid through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), […]
Canada triples aid to Sri Lanka
MONTREAL, August 8, 2009 (AFP) – Canada has decided to triple its humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka to assist people displaced by the country’s conflict with Tamil separatists, Canada’s top development minister said Saturday. The move came after Minister of International Cooperation Beverley Oda spent three days visiting the island nation and will take Canada’s […]
New IMF loan insufficient for Pakistan problems: economist
KARACHI, August 8, 2009 (AFP) – Pakistani economists on Saturday said an additional 3.2 billion dollar loan from the IMF would have little impact on the economic problems facing the cash-starved South Asian country.The International Monetary Fund on Friday said it had approved an additional 3.2 billion dollar loan to Pakistan after it asked for […]
Pro-Tiger party wins one Sri Lanka council
August 9, 2009 (AFP) – A party that backs the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels won a council in elections near Sri Lanka’s former war zone, results showed Sunday, in a sign that separatists still attract popular support.Widespread international concern was voiced over the number of civilians killed during the fighting, while aid groups now fear […]
Sri Lanka official says economic crisis generates debate on role of central banks
August 8, 2009 (LBO) – The current economic crisis has created a debate about the core role of a central bank, a senior Sri Lankan monetary official said, while the practice of central banking itself is under heavy fire in the United States. Some central banks in relatively stable economies now only have one core […]
‘s former war zone
August 8, 2009 (AFP) – Voting for two local councils began Saturday near Sri Lanka’s former war zone, officials said, as independent media was denied access to the area. The voting is seen as a test of popularity of President Mahinda Rajapakse after his crushing victory over the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels. Election officials said […]
G20 agrees next steps on bonuses, post-crisis blueprint
LONDON, September 5, 2009 (AFP) – The G20 vowed Saturday to maintain emergency measures to fight the world economic crisis, warning it was not over yet, while tensions between Europe and the United States remained over bankers’ bonuses. After a meeting in London preparing for a leaders’ summit later this month, finance ministers said they […]
Sri Lanka slammed by media watchdog over polls media blackout
August 6, 2009 (AFP) – Global press freedom group Reporters Without Borders voiced outrage Thursday over Sri Lanka’s ban on independent media covering local polls just outside the island’s former war zone.The government claimed victory over the Tamil Tiger rebels in May after killing the top leadership of the separatist movement which had been fighting […]