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Business News from Sri Lanka
Czech Republic keen on investing in Sri Lanka
Thursday, 2 July 2009 - 2:26 PM SL Time
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With the dawn of peace the Czech Republic has indicated its willingness to invest in Sri Lanka and a twelve-member delegation from the Czech Republic is now in Sri Lanka.
The delegation is mainly looking at assisting the Sri Lankan Government in infrastructure development.
The delegation held discussions with the Board of Investment (BOI) yesterday and will discuss further the investment areas where Czech entrepreneurs are interested in, a BOI official said.
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Sri Lanka June inflation at 0.9-pct
Wednesday, 1 July 2009 - 1:54 PM SL Time
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Consumer prices in Sri Lanka`s capital Colombo rose 0.9 percent in June from a year earlier, down from 3.3 in May, while prices during the month moved up 1.3 percent, the government`s statistics office said.
The Colombo Consumer Price Index moved up to 207.8 point in June from 205.8 percent in May.
The seasonally adjusted average, which is a lagging number moved down to 12.5 percent to 14.7 percent, the Department of Census and Statistics said.
The consumer inflation is the lowest since February 2004, when prices also rose 0.9 percent over the previous 12-months. Fiscal and monetary policy then reversed plunging the country into high inflation.
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SriLankan - thrice weekly flights to Tokyo
Wednesday, 1 July 2009 - 10:23 AM SL Time
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SriLankan Airlines has made flying to Japan easier with three direct non-stop flights to Tokyo every week from Colombo.
SriLankan s flights now operate on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. All three flights depart the Bandaranaike International Airport at 11:40 p.m. and touch down at Tokyo s Narita Airport at 11:50 a.m. the next day.
The return flights are via a short stop in Male.
The flights operate on SriLankan s widebody Airbus A340 aircraft. Each seat is equipped with its own touch-screen entertainment system that features over 40 movies, television and radio channels and 16 interactive games, with Business Class passengers having the choice of selecting from the video library on board.
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Sri Lanka Insurance to take bulk of Seylan shares
Tuesday, 30 June 2009 - 11:31 AM SL Time
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state-run Bank of Ceylon and National Savings Bank (NSB) may take smaller stakes, a media report said.
SLIC was recently returned to state ownership and management following a court order, and a board was approved by courts last Friday.
The Sunday Island newspaper quoting and unnamed source said NSB will take up the least volume of shares at it already has 3.47 percent of its voting shares and 3.67 percent of its non-voting shares.
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Mosquito coil manufacturer in Sri Lanka found guilty of supporting mosquitoes
Tuesday, 30 June 2009 - 11:27 AM SL Time
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A mosquito coil manufacturing company at Kaduthuththiripitiya in Weerangula, Gampaha was found guilty by the Courts for neglecting to rid its premises of mosquito breeding places.
Attanagalla Magistrate D.A. Ruwan Pathirana has sentenced an official of the company to six months rigorous imprisonment, suspended for five years.
The Courts further imposed a fine of Rs. 1,500 as well on the accused from the mosquito coil factory.
The Public Health Inspector of Weerangula and the Police brought the charges against the coil manufacturer.
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Positive developments on re-paying Golden Key depositors
Monday, 29 June 2009 - 10:11 AM SL Time
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The Central Bank last week reported positive progress in the ongoing process of identifying and valuing the properties and assets of the Golden Key Credit Card Company and its directors to be auctioned to re-pay depositors of this collapsed Ceylinco subsidiary.
`The first lot of assets is already being valued for disposal to meet depositors liabilities`, a senior Central Bank official said. `Initially, we need to raise at least two billion rupees in liquid cash to start settling dues`.
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Lanka IOC to spend $30 million on new outlets
Friday, 26 June 2009 - 10:12 AM SL Time
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June 25 (Bloomberg) -- Lanka IOC Plc, a unit of India s largest oil refiner, plans to spend $30 million to double the number of its retail outlets and benefit from a revival in the South Asian island s economy after the end of the civil war.
The Indian Oil Corp. unit aims to add 35 to 40 fuel stations annually over four years to cater to an expected rise in diesel and gasoline demand after the government declared victory over rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Lanka IOC Managing Director Suresh Kumar said in an interview.
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Hot air over USD 50 million Indian loan
Friday, 26 June 2009 - 10:09 AM SL Time
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State Revenue and Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya yesterday (24) told parliament that the National Savings Bank had borrowed US dollar 50 million from India s ICICI Bank and had lent it to the government.
Minister Siyamabalapitiya answering a question raised by UNP Colombo District MP Ravi Karunanayake said the loan was borrowed on October 22, 2007.
The interest rate was LIBOR+ 1.42% Pa, payable quarterly and the condition for t he capital repayment was on maturity (12 months), he said. Asked whether the Board of Directors of the NSB had previously engaged in similar transactions, the minister answered in the negative.
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National Business Excellence Awards 2009
Thursday, 25 June 2009 - 10:38 AM SL Time
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The National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka is receiving applications from potential business organizations for the National Business Excellence Awards 2009, an all-island business benchmark competition.
The awards will be presented to the winners at a ceremony to be held on November 26 at the Colombo Hilton.
The awardees will be selected from business organizations involved in agriculture and plantation, banking and financial services, construction, Gem and Jewellery, healthcare related services, hospitality, ICT services, insurance, livestock and fisheries, printing, specialized banking and financial services, trading, manufacturing, media services, infrastructure and other services. Already 30 companies have applied for the awards. Applications will close on August 31, 2009 after which they will subject to evaluation. Weekly workshops will be conducted to explain to the participants as to how they should fill the applications correctly.
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Malaysia Airlines, SriLankan expand codeshare partnership
Wednesday, 24 June 2009 - 10:29 AM SL Time
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Malaysia Airlines and SriLankan Airlines signed an agreement to enhance their longstanding codeshare partnership,signifying a strengthening of the close co-operation between the twoAsian carriers.
The agreement enables Malaysia Airlines to codeshare on SriLankan s flights to Male in the Maldives while SriLankan Airlines will access Los Angeles, Sydney, Melbourne, Jakarta and Seoul through Malaysia Airlines.
Malaysia Airlines General Manager Gov-ernment and Industry Relations, Germal Singh Khera said, We are delighted to expand our partnership with SriLankan Airlines. This will provide our customers with easy access to the Maldives, a favourite destination among high end tourists from Europe and Asia, while enabling us to further enhance our loads to the major cities in North America, Asia and Australia. Kuala Lumpur s position as a key gateway for travellers will also be strengthened.
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SLDBs over subscribed by over 135 per cent
Tuesday, 23 June 2009 - 10:45 AM SL Time
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The Central Bank of Sri Lanka, on behalf of the Government, offered to issue Sri Lanka Development Bonds (SLDBs) to eligible investor categories for subscription at a rate of US Dollar 6 month LIBOR plus a margin to be determined through competitive bidding.
The offer was opened on 15th June 2009 with the settlement on 29th June 2009. The Bonds on offer amounted to US Dollar 50 million for a 2 year maturity period.
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Sri Lanka foreign reserves inch up in April
Tuesday, 23 June 2009 - 2:28 AM SL Time
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Sri Lanka`s official external reserves without advances to domestic banks had increased 59 million US dollars to 1,131 million US dollars in April from 1,072 million US dollars in March, the Central Bank said.
With an advance to two domestic banks of 165 million US dollars, the reserve balance was 1,296 million US dollars in April, up 24 million US dollars.
Last month`s total reserves - with a domestic asset of 200 million US dollars - were 1,272 million US dollars.
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Sri Lanka bourse among world`s best performing markets
Saturday, 20 June 2009 - 1:13 PM SL Time
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Sri Lankan shares .CSE jumped 2.61 percent on Thursday to become one of the best-performing bourses among the world stock markets after a global recession, with top bluechips hitting over one-year highs.
Turnover hit a record of 2 billion rupees ($17.5 million), more than four times last year`s daily average of 464 million rupees, according to a bourse official.
The rupee LKR= closed flat with the central bank preventing appreciation through buying dollars.
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Rs. 150m telecom tower for Kokavil
Saturday, 20 June 2009 - 10:22 AM SL Time
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A common telecommunication broadcasting tower with an investment of Rs. 150 million will be built shortly at Kokavil, the centre point between Jaffna and Vauniya, Director General, Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka Priyantha Kariyapperuma said. The TRC will invest this amount as a part of its telecommunication infrastructure development project.
The 172-metre tall tower is a unique tower as it is shared by telecommunication operators and broadcasters, he said. There is no requirement to build individual towers. With the opening of the A9 highway accelerated development is expected in the North and the Kokavil tower will be built at the place where the original Rupavahini tower stood.
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