Tag: Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka IMF loan would not be delayed on politics: central bank
May 2, 2009 (LBO) – Technical levels discussions for Sri Lanka’s International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan have now been finalized and with the UN Security Council also not standing in the way, there would be no further delays, a senior central banker said. Media reports indicated the United States, which has substantial say in IMF […]
Sri Lanka troops tighten siege of Tamil rebels
May 1, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan government troops have tightened their siege of the last strip of land on the island still controlled by Tamil Tiger rebels and are poised for a final assault, the military said Friday.Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara told AFP that two columns of troops had consolidated positions along a […]
Volatile Prices
April 30, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s two liquid petroleum gas suppliers, a unit of multinational Shell Gas, and the locally owned Laugfs Gas, said they will raise prices from midnight Thursday.It said prices were cut in November 2008 and January 2009 because of lower import costs. “Import costs for February and March 2009 have […]
Sri Lanka hosts IMF team as loan deal nears
April 30, 2009 (LBO) – An International Monetary Fund (IMF) ‘Safeguards Assessment’ mission is in Sri Lanka as talks on a 1.9 billion dollar loan nears its final stages, the central bank said in a statement.“The Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) facility sought by the government of Sri Lanka from the IMF has now reached an advanced […]
Sri Lanka close to getting 15-year loan from Libya: CB Governor
April 30, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is close to finalizing a 500 million US dollar long-term loan from Libya, Central Bank governor Nivard Cabraal who is visiting the country for discussions on the government-to-government credit, said.In a telephone interview from Rome Thursday, Cabraal said Sri Lanka was negotiating a 15-year year loan with a […]
Sri Lanka inflation slows to 2.9-pct in April
April 30, 2009 (LBO) – Consumer inflation in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo, in the 12-months to April slowed to 2.9 percent from 5.3 percent in March, with prices declining for the seventh straight month, the statistics office said.The Colombo Consumer Prices Index (CCPI) has been declining on an absolute basis from October after peaking at […]
Sri Lanka begins re-settling war displaced
April 30, 2009 (AFP) – About 400 Sri Lankan civilians returned home on Thursday two years after being forced to flee by fighting in the country’s ethnic conflict, the United Nations refugee agency said. Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said the government was hoping to resettle all Tamil civilians within a year as […]
British, French FMs arrive in Sri Lanka
April 29, 2009 (AFP) – The foreign ministers of Britain and France, David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner, arrived Wednesday in Sri Lanka, officials said, looking to negotiate a humanitarian ceasefire in the island’s civil war. Amid mounting international concern about the plight of civilians caught up in the fighting between government troops and Tamil Tiger […]
US airs concern on Sri Lanka, mum on Swedish row
WASHINGTON, April 28, 2009 (AFP) – The United States voiced concern Tuesday about reports of continued heavy shelling in Sri Lanka but stayed out of a row over the Swedish foreign minister’s failure to receive a visa for the island. “I’m not familiar with the circumstances surrounding this visa issue, and have to refer you […]
Sri Lanka on alert for swine flu
April 28, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s airports and hospitals have been put on alert for swine flu, a health official said Tuesday. “The country has been put on alert for a possible outbreak of swine influenza,” said Paba Palihawadana, the chief epidemiologist at the state-run epidemiology unit. Surgical masks and medicines have been distributed […]
” by Sri Lanka to deny Swedish FM visa: EU
LUXEMBOURG, April 28, 2009 (AFP) – The European Union lashed out on Tuesday at Sri Lanka’s decision to deny a visa to Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, describing the move as a “grave mistake” and warning Colombo of repercussions.“It is lamentable that the Sri Lankan government denied him a visa,” Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, […]
British, French, Swedish FMs to visit Sri Lanka
LONDON, April 26, 2009 (AFP) – The foreign ministers of Britain, France and Sweden will visit Sri Lanka on Wednesday, government officials in London said Sunday after Colombo rejected a ceasefire declared by Tamil Tiger rebels. “Foreign Secretary David Miliband, together with his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner and Swedish counterpart Carl Bildt, will visit (Sri […]