Category: Other
Tougher Laws
May 07, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka plans to include tough anti-terror financing laws into banking, insurance and securities market, in a bid to crack down on unscrupulous people using the financial system to launder money, officials said Monday. “We are looking at including elements of our anti-money laundering and financial transactions reporting laws into […]
Jakarta Arrest
May 7, 2007 (LBO) – Indonesian police have arrested top operatives of the GoldQuest scheme, while its founder is also wanted by Interpol for his activities in the Philippines, reports said. Quest International (QI) group Chief Executive Vijayeswaran Vijayaratnam, director Joseph Bismark, and two other senior executives, Donna Marie Imson and Tagumpay Kintanar were arrested […]
ADB looks for new role after success in growing Asian prosperity
KYOTO, Japan, May 5, 2007 (AFP) – The Asian Development Bank came under pressure Saturday not to abandon the region’s poorest as it considers a major overhaul in response to warnings that it risks becoming irrelevant. With Asia’s rapid economic growth expected to wipe out widespread absolute poverty in much of the region by 2020, […]
Ultimate Aim
May 5, 2007 (LBO) – An amendment effected to the Monetary Law Act in 2002 requires the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to pursue ˜economic and price stability’ as one of the two core objectives of the Bank. The writer is the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka This is somewhat a […]
Sri Lanka tea export earnings boosted by high prices
MAY 3, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea exports fell in the first quarter of 2007 but earnings were up because of high prices caused by supply shortages owing to a strike and dry weather, brokers said. Shipments of Ceylon tea in January-March 2007 fell 4% to 74.4 million kg from the record 77.8 million kg […]
Sri Lanka tea industry to get back withheld funds; objections to new cess
April 30, 2007 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government has agreed to release all funds owed to the tea industry from the export cess but key stakeholders are opposing a proposal to further increase the cess. Tea Board Chairman Lalith Hettiarachchi told LBO the Cabinet had agreed to release all funds of the tea export cess, […]
China invests in key projects in Zimbabwe as West tighten economic sanctions
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, April 27, 2007 (AFP) – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said on Friday that burgeoning economic ties with Asian countries were paying off for the country shunned by its former trading allies in the west. “I am pleased to report that significant headway has been made with a number of investment projects that have […]
Sri Lanka plans performance based incentives to push value-added tea exports
April 27, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state tea promotion agency is planning a new initiative based on performance incentives to boost flagging valued added tea exports, an official said. The incentive is to be based on exporters performance in increasing the volume and value of such teas, Sri Lanka Tea Board Chairman Lalith Hettiarachchi told […]
‘s inflation soars to 2,200 percent
HARARE, April 26, 2007 (AFP) – Zimbabwe, already battling to contain the world’s highest rate of inflation, announced on Thursday that the figure had soared once more to 2,200 percent. Before the devaluation, the Zimbabwean dollar had been trading at around 25,000 to the greenback, against the official rate of 250 dollars. After the official […]
Robot Watchdog
April 26, 2007 (LBO) – Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) is considering introducing computerized surveillance systems to monitor stock market activity and detect abuses as trading volumes get bigger. The SEC is looking at a few systems by vendors here and in India, including the National Stock Exchange, de Silva said. We’re […]
‘s Talawakelle Tea estate profits dip after strike
April 25, 2007 (LBO) – Hayleys subsidiary Talawakelle Tea Estates (TTEL), has reported a sharp fall in first quarter profits after a strike crippled production late last year.Net profit for the three months ended March 31, 2007 fell 60 percent to 30.2 million rupees from 75.8 million rupees in the same 2006 period.Revenue was down 16 […]
Fraud Warning
April 24, 2007 (LBO) – The Central Bank of Sri Lanka is warning the public against payment card fraud following the discovery of a massive fraud in the United Kingdom which has been linked with Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers. “This scam which has been said to be running for several years has involved in cloning […]