The third edition of Jaffna International Trade Fair 2012 was held recently at Durayappah Stadium, Jaffna. This event showcased a wide range of products and services from various industries and brought together the business community in the Northern territory. The Nations Express Centre offered visitors an opportunity to experience a range of financial products such ...

Sri Lanka’s cricketing fortunes seem to be changing of late. The team’s better performance has raised hopes among many fans, while the Sports Ministry’s decision to finally pay the cricketers through a Rs. 600 million loan from the Bank of Ceylon will raise moral still higher. The financial fallout that resulted from the co-hosting of ...

ASI gains by 5% as Bourse’s value swells by Rs. 96 b Brokers positive after fresh meeting with SEC EPF, private institutional and high networth investors active on attractive valuations The Colombo stock market yesterday produced a major rebound gaining by 5% thanks what some described as “spirited support” whilst others emphasised it was largely due ...

SRI LANKA is still electrified by the unprecedented fuel hike and the fallout continues to grow. On Wednesday a fishermen was shot dead as protestors clashed with the police in Chilaw prompting the Government to issue an immediate subsidy. JVP protesters were tear-gassed and the Political rhetoric

(Bloomberg): Sri Lanka doesn’t need to further tighten monetary policy for now even though an increase in fuel and transportation costs and a weakening currency may stoke inflation, the head of the central bank said. The central bank’s rate increase earlier this month will have a “

Sri Lanka’s benchmark stock index, the world’s worst performer this year, may extend its slump as the central bank raises interest rates to curb inflation, according to HSBC Holdings Plc’s private banking unit. HSBC Private Bank, which oversees about $499 billion, will wait for stock valuations to fall to “single digit” multiples before it considers ...

By Chamitha Kuruppu The two main opposition parties yesterday blamed the Government for making false promises to the people and called the fuel subsidy was just another gimmick of the Rajapaksa administration. The United National Party accused the Government, claiming the fuel subsidy

Airbus will build on last year’s highly successful commercial performance as the company pursues its industry leadership in 2012, with the coming 12 months to include further production ramp-up for the jetliner families to meet a growing order backlog, supported by additional growth in its employee count. Speaking to international journalists today at the New ...

UNP MP, its spokesman for the economy and Consultant Economist Dr. Harsha de Silva yesterday gave thumbs up to Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal for the latter’s dual move of hiking interest rates and depreciating the currency, though insisted risks and challenges remain. “The Central Bank Chief must be commended for finally realising that there ...

BEIJING (Reuters): China will raise the ceiling on retail prices for gasoline and diesel by 300 yuan ($47.50) per ton from Wednesday, a senior Sinopec official said, its first fuel price hike in 10 months. The hike has been anticipated by the industry. Energy consultancy C1 Energy last month

IATA says capacity, economy loom as issues in 2012 The International Air Transport Association (IATA) last week reported that full year 2011 passenger demand rose 5.9% compared to 2010, in line with long-term growth trends. In contrast, cargo markets contracted by 0.7% for the year; but recorded positive demand growth in December of 0.2%. Growth ...

The international price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has jumped by $ 139 to record high at $ 1,031 per ton for February 2012 with analysts describing it as the highest increase. Industry sources said that Saudi Armco Contract Price (CP) has surged to record high due to surge in prices of butane by $ ...

Are the Indian Army’s golf courses illegal?                 Sri Lanka’s fourth golf course opened by Air Force   India’s national auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), has reported to Parliament that the country’s Army has turned large tracts of State military property into illegal privately-run ...

LONDON(Reuters): Cleaner and better-managed seas and coasts would help boost economic growth and reduce poverty and pollution, a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report said on Wednesday. The report, produced with several other U.N. organizations, highlights the huge potential of a marine-based economy some five months before world governments meet to discuss pathways to more ...

Reuters: The world economy will lose momentum in 2012 but it will keep moving in the right direction, according to Reuters polls of around 600 economists who said crisis-hit Europe would drag on global growth. Asian economies will again power the expansion of the world economy this year, but with relatively subdued performances. The United ...

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka recently unveiled its pioneering Sixth Strategic Plan – communicating in all transparency its plans for the forthcoming financial period – based on the theme ‘Raising the Bar’. The Sixth Strategic Plan, like its predecessors, takes root from the policy measures underscored in the ‘Mahinda Chinthana,’ and is formulated to ...

SINGAPORE (AFP): Oil prices rose in Asian trade on Monday as worries over supply disruptions in Nigeria outweighed concerns over the mass debt downgrade of eurozone nations, analysts said. New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in February, gained three cents to $98.73 in morning trade. Brent North Sea crude for February ...

LONDON: Airlines could reap windfall profits from a $3 passenger surcharge, introduced to cover new costs from an EU law regulating greenhouse gas emissions, because the carriers will receive most of their CO2 permits for free. Five US air carriers including Delta Air Lines and United Continental last week imposed the price hike on their ...

“Our sense is that if we do not act boldly and if we do not act together, the economy around the world runs the risk of a downward spiral of uncertainty, financial instability and potential collapse of global demand… we could run the risk of what some commentators are already calling the lost decade” – ...

If the Governor of Central Bank has an urge to enter politics, he should come to Parliament without playing politics inside the CB, charges United National Party Parliamentarian and well-known Economist Dr. Harsha de Silva. Dr. de Silva notes that Governor Nivard Cabraal should respect the sanctity of the Central Bank and therefore if Cabraal ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters): The Obama administration is laying the groundwork for possible retaliation in response to a European law requiring airlines to pay for carbon emissions. Discussions between key agencies have ramped up recently, although there is no consensus yet on what, if anything, the U.S. government should do unilaterally or in concert with other nations ...

The Range Rover Evoque, Land Rover’s sensational new SUV – a car that won 34 international awards in the three months after its first production model came off the line in September 2011 – has arrived in Sri Lanka. The smallest, lightest, most fuel-efficient Range Rover

Today, as much as China is the centre of global manufacturing, India has become the international hub for global service industries. India’s IT and outsourcing exports amount to over US$ 50 billion. The economic resurgence of China and India has also made way for the emergence of Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam as manufacturing bases. ...

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Airlines in the Asia Pacific region may impose surcharges or increase airfares following the imposition of the European Union’s new Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), a move that could deal another blow to an industry already facing weak demand. The possible increases would come after Delta Air Lines in the United States, that country’s ...

Expects 2012 to continue 2011 success despite anticipating slow year By Cheranka Mendis Kia Motors is geared to embrace a phenomenal year in 2012, riding high on the extraordinary success of 2011. Launching the final model that was to be introduced to the local market in 2011, the all new fourth generation Kia Rio, Kia ...

As projected in the beginning of the year the rate of year-on-year inflation, as measured by the Colombo Consumers’ Price Index (CCPI) (2006/07=100), computed by the Department of Census and Statistics, decreased to 4.9%in December 2011 from 6.2%in January 2011 and the annual average rate of inflation recorded as 6.7%in December 2011 thus stabilising the ...

A survey conducted last week on the health of the Sri Lankan economy revealed that almost 64% said that the Government had done its task but only 43% had said that there had been growth in the economy. Whilst some can say that this data is strange, a similar set of information was shared at ...

ABUJA(Reuters): Nigerian authorities announced on Sunday that a controversial plan to scrap fuel subsidies will be effective from Jan. 1, a move likely to lead to strikes and street protests. The plan is unpopular with Nigerians, many of whom see cheap fuel as the only benefit they get from living

DHAKA (Reuters): Bangladesh raised fuel prices with effect from Friday in its fourth such hike since May, a move that will trim the country’s subsidy burden but add to already high inflation. Petrol, 95-octane gasoline, diesel, kerosene and fuel oil will now cost an additional 5 taka ($0.06

NEW YORK (Reuters): Gold prices will fall below $ 1,500 an ounce over the next three months and are unlikely to retest September’s all-time highs until later 2012 at the earliest, according to a Reuters poll of 20 hedge fund managers, economists and traders. The bleak forecast, coming after gold has lost 11 per cent ...