Sri Lanka inflation at 6.2 percent in September

Sept 30, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s consumer prices rose 6.2 percent in September 2013 from a year earlier, slowing from 6.3 percent in August, data from the state statistics office showed. The International Monetary Fund has said monetary policy should not be relaxed further this year, until the effects of earlier easing is seen. […]

Sri Lanka President meets US business networking group

Sept 27, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa had met representatives of the Business Council of International Understanding, a US-based organization that promotes links between political leaders and business. President Rajapaksa visited New York to attend the general assembly of the United Nations. At a breakfast meeting with BCIU, which was represented by […]

Oil Blocks

Sept 27, 2013 (LBO) – Oil majors Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell, France’s Total are among the firms that may bid for offshore oil exploration blocks offered by Sri Lanka, a media report said.Italy’s ENI and India’s ONGC Videsh and Cairn India could also bid, Saliya Wickramasuriya, head of Sri Lanka’s petroleum exploration office […]

Sri Lanka cautioned against high yield foreign debt by IMF

Sept 26, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has to be careful of borrowing from abroad at high rates, amid low growth and flat state revenues, an International Monetary Fund official said.Todd Schneider who headed an IMF mission in the wake of a successful 2.6 billion US dollar bailout, said Sri Lanka’s public debt dynamics were […]

Sri Lanka exporters moving beyond labour arbitrage

Sept 25, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s high end apparel and information technology firms are moving beyond labour arbitrage to leverage knowledge and supply chain efficiencies, officials said.“Labour arbitrage is not necessary, the way we see it,” Udena Wickramasuriya, group director at Brandix a top Sri Lanka based apparel group that also has operations in […]

Sri Lanka should keep policy on hold, make structural changes: IMF

Monetary Stance Sept 25, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should keep monetary policy on hold but make structural change to boost growth, an International Monetary Fund official said. Todd Schneider, head of a monitoring mission to Sri Lanka said external conditions have worsened with impending Federal Reserve action, and budget revenues were flat though inflation […]

Shale Oil

NEW YORK CITY, September 24, 2013 (AFP) – The US shale boom is remaking the nation’s industrial landscape and raising the prospect of energy independence in the world’s biggest oil consumer.As the industry awaits more pipeline capacity, the US has seen an uptick in oil deliveries by rail and truck.Booming oil and gas production is […]

Sri Lanka President on Twitter Q&A from New York

Sept 24, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa will answer questions posed on Twitter, a micro blogging site, after addressing a United Nations assembly in New York, his media office said. The half hour Q&A will take place on Sept 25, at 9.00 am New York time which is 6.30 pm Sri Lanka […]

Sri Lanka has to fix primary schools as well as universities

Sept 24, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has to fix its primary school system where up to half the students are failing their junior high school exam, as well as universities, researchers and productive sector officials said. “Sri Lanka has to invest more in primary schooling,” Sujatha Gamage, an educational specialist from LirneAsia, a regional […]

Tamil party heads for big win in Sri Lanka vote

JAFFNA, September 21, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s main Tamil party was Sunday headed for victory in the first regional elections to a semi-autonomous council in the island’s north after decades of ethnic war.The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) swept three of the five districts declared so far following Saturday’s Northern Provincial Council elections, official results […]

‘s Tamil party wins landslide victory in key poll

JAFFNA, September 22, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s main Tamil party won a landslide victory Sunday in landmark elections in the battle-scarred north, raising hopes of some degree of self-rule for the ethnic minority after decades of war. The election comes ahead of a Commonwealth heads of government summit due to take place in Colombo […]

‘s Tamils vote after decades of war

JAFFNA, September 21, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s minority Tamils began voting Saturday to elect what they hope will give them a shot at self-rule after decades of ethnic bloodshed that claimed over 100,000 lives.Tamils in the country’s battle-scarred northern province are voting for the first time to elect a semi-autonomous council, in an election […]

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