Reuters: Asian shares fell for a second successive day on Friday as another batch of lacklustre U.S. data stoked concerns that the recovery in the world’s biggest economy is faltering. The euro was steady after a bumpy session on Thursday, when European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi gave a more upbeat assessment of the region’s ...

LONDON (Reuters): The dollar fell to a two-month low against a basket of currencies on Monday, weighed down after modest first quarter growth in the US economy kept alive chances of further monetary easing by the Federal Reserve. The dollar is likely to come under more pressure if data, including US jobs numbers, this week ...

The economy grew at 8.3% last year, the highest-ever pace, up from 8.0% in 2010. Per capita income went up from US$ 2,400 to $ 2,836. Fine, but we need to ask two questions: What are the costs incurred? Is this growth sustainable? Before that, a word of caution regarding the interpretation of Gross Domestic ...

REUTERS: Global growth is slowly improving as the US recovery gains traction and dangers from Europe recede, but risks remain high and the situation is very fragile, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday. Another flare-up of the eurozone sovereign debt crisis or sharp escalation in oil prices on geopolitical uncertainty could disrupt a world ...

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Asian equities hit a one-week high on Tuesday, holding firm in the wake of recent signs of improvement in the U.S. economy, while the yen rose after the Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady. The BOJ, which surprisingly eased policy last month, kept interest rates unchanged at a range of zero to ...

Charith Senanayake new manager for Aussie tour COLOMBO (Reuters): Sri Lanka have sacked coach Geoff Marsh and appointed South African Graham Ford on a two-year contract, a Sri Lanka cricket official said on Thursday. “Ford has signed a two-year contract and his first assignment is to take the team to Australia for the Commonwealth Bank ...

By Devin Jayasundara CIMA (The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) Sri Lanka Division inducted its Board for the year 2012 at the Cinnamon Grand on 4 January. Union Assurance PLC (UA) CEO Dirk Pereira was elected as CIMA Sri Lanka Board Chairman, whilst Reyaz Mihular – Partner – Head of Advisory Services of KPMG Ford ...

Reuters: Asia’s economic growth looks set to stumble over the next few months, prompting a flurry of interest rate cuts and a spike in stimulus spending that may ultimately pave the way for a strong recovery in the second half of 2012. “The catch-phrase for 2012 is the Asia yo-yo,” said Rob Subbaraman, chief Asia ...

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Asia’s economic growth looks set to stumble over the next few months, prompting a flurry of interest rate cuts and a spike in stimulus spending that may ultimately pave the way for a strong recovery in the second half of 2012. “The catch-phrase for 2012 is the Asia yo-yo,” said Rob Subbaraman, chief ...

What do nation states do when their politicians ruin their economies by serial lying to the voters, running up huge domestic and international financial deficits, uncontrolled corruption, cannot keep interest rates at reasonable rates, cannot control inflation nor hold the exchange rate steady and run the country on an unsustainable basis, depending on what has ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters): President Barack Obama will press European Union officials on Monday to reach a definitive solution to their sovereign debt crisis which is emerging as a major 2012 U.S. election worry. As Germany and France scramble to tighten budget controls across the euro zone, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President ...

The first ever Islamic Finance Country Report in Sri Lanka was launched by KPMG Ford, Rhodes, Thornton and Co. in collaboration with the Research Intelligence Unit. The publication titled ‘Islamic Finance Country Report – Window of opportunity in Sri Lanka’ provides insight into the demographics of the Islamic finance market and an in-depth analysis of ...

Reuters: Switzerland, despite bank settlements with the United States to disclose tax evaders, remains the top refuge for financial secrecy, according to a new international ranking of tax haven countries. Switzerland is the world leader in financial opacity, only grudgingly conforming with disclosure agreements among developed countries while courting tax evaders in developing nations, said ...

By Dinali Goonewardene A luncheon presentation was held by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and KPMG Ford Rhodes Thornton on ‘International Financial Reporting Standards Implementation – The Next Steps,’ with the aim of promoting knowledge of IFRS before their adoption in Sri Lanka in January 2012. Speaking at the presentation V. Venkataramanan, Executive...

The second public lecture titled ‘Convergence of Sri Lanka accounting standards with international financial reporting standards: A business perspective,’ of the Postgraduate Institute of Management Alumni (PIMA) was successfully held on 9 September 2011 at the PIM Auditorium. The welcome address was made by Dilini Wijeweera, President of PIM Alumni. Professor Uditha Liyanage, Patron a...

President Mahinda Rajapaksa will inaugurate tomorrow the three-day Rotary South Asia Conference for Development and Cooperation hosted by Sri Lanka. The President will address the ceremonial inauguration on Sunday at 9 a.m. at Galadari Hotel whilst the conference will be held at Cinnamon Grand. Around 300 delegates and speakers of repute from the corporate and ...

Highly respected Managing Director and Editor in Chief of The Hindu N. Ram will be in town over the weekend to actively participate at the Rotary South Asia Conference on Development and Cooperation in Colombo from 4-6 September. Ram will moderate the first plenary session titled “Reaching within – Bonding South” on the inaugural day ...

Several big names in business, medicine and civil society spheres are coming to Sri Lanka to attend the Rotary South Asia Conference on Development and Cooperation in Colombo from 4-6 September. Overall around 300 delegates and speakers of repute from the corporate and state sectors from the South Asia region, comprising countries, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, ...

Reuters: Emerging markets will not save the world if the West slides back into recession. In an interconnected global economy, decoupling is a beguiling myth. As fears mount that the developed world is shifting from slow growth to no growth, emerging markets seem to many economists better placed to weather the storm than they were ...