‘s interest rates kept higher to help savers: Treasury Secretary

Mar 08, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s interest rates have been kept higher than underlying conditions required, in order to protect savers, Treasury Secretary P B Jayasundera said.Jayasundera said price reforms in state energy utilities, transport and water distribution had resulted a public sector deficit reversal of around 2 percent of gross domestic product. “And […]

‘s fastest growing firms to join US-based AllWorld Network

Mar 07, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka firms and start-ups could gain wide visibility which will win them more business and financial backing after the island joined the AllWorld Network, a grouping of fast-growing companies, officials said.“Those companies are not growing at 5 percent,” Anne Habiby, co-founder of AllWorld Network told a forum in Colombo […]

GENEVA, March 5, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Wednesday dismissed a UN report calling for an international probe into allegations of war crimes at the end of its civil war as “fundamentally flawed.” Foreign Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris said his government rejected a report from UN human rights chief Navi Pillay “in its entirety,” […]

US resolution on Sri Lanka filed at UN – Update

COLOMBO, March 4, 2014 (AFP) – A US-led resolution calling for an international probe into allegations that 40,000 civilians were killed at the end of Sri Lanka’s separatist war has been filed with the UN’s top rights body. The resolution is “totally based on information of questionable veracity”, the monks said in a petition to […]

Sri Lanka consumer durables group profits plunge in December

Mar 04, 2014 (LBO) – Profits at Singer Sri Lanka Plc, a consumer durables retailer, fell 71 percent to 93 million rupees in the December 2013 quarter from a year earlier, but sales are no longer shrinking, the firm said. The group reported earnings of 74 cents per share. For the full year to December […]

Sri Lanka central bank plugs IFRS disclosure hole

Mar 04, 2014 (LBO) – A directive by Sri Lanka’s central bank has plugged a hole in newly introduced International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) which made accounts of banks opaque and confused the general public and even analysts. Under IFRS, banks which were earlier disclosing total non-performing loans and deposit with break downs to the […]

Free trade deal will open new avenues for BIMSTEC region: Sri Lanka President

Mar 04, 2014 (LBO) – A free trade deal that is being negotiated in countries bordering the Bay of Bengal, will open new avenues for co-operation, Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaska said meeting of the regional grouping.ASEAN is usually looked upon as an example of a successful regional organization. ASEAN (the Association of South East […]

Sri Lanka inflation at 2.5-pct in February by citizen index

Mar 03, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s inflation in February 2014 was measured at 2.5 percent by an index compiled by private citizens, coming below the 4.2 percent indicated by the state statistics office.Sri Lanka’s credit growth has been weak in the past year and the Central Bank has also been sterilizing foreign exchange purchases. […]

” with rights resolution

COLOMBO, February 28, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president on Friday acknowledged his discomfort at the prospect of being censured by the UN’s top rights body, as he accused Washington of treating Colombo like Muhammad Ali’s “punching bag”.Although the exact text of the resolution is still not known, the US has said it will file […]

New mass grave found in Sri Lanka ahead of UN rights meet

COLOMBO, March 1, 2014 (AFP) – Another unmarked mass grave has been found in Sri Lanka’s former war zone, police said Saturday, as Colombo braced for a US-led censure resolution at the UN rights forum next week.A family on Friday stumbled upon nine bodies buried in the garden of their home in the district of […]

‘s rights record poor in 2013

WASHINGTON, February 27, 2014 (AFP) – From China’s crackdown on activists to flawed elections in Cambodia and widespread violence against Muslims in Myanmar, Asia’s human rights record in 2013 remained poor, US officials said Thursday. Releasing its annual Human Rights report, the State Department documented a litany of abuses across the continent, with especially strong […]

Sri Lanka inflation at 4.2-pct in February

Feb 28, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s consumer prices rose 4.2 percent in the 12-months February 2014, down from 4.4 percent in January, the state statistics office said.The widely watched Colombo Consumer Price Index rose 0.2 percent during the month. Annual average inflation, a lagging indicator averaged across two years eased to 6.0 percent in […]

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