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Foreign remittances keep SLanka buoyant
COLOMBO, Mar 15: Sri Lanka's overall balance of payments showed a 100 million dollar surplus for the two-months to February thanks to increased private remittances, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said Wednesday. The surplus was possible despite an external trade deficit, the bank said in its monthly review of the economy. It did not give the absolute numbers for trade in the first two months of the year. However, the bank said the trade deficit may widen this year. — AFP
US govt's cash running out: Snow
WASHINGTON, Mar 15: Treasury Secretary John Snow urged Congress yesterday to set aside partisan bickering and raise the US national debt ceiling this week, or face a disastrous cash crunch for the federal government. In a speech here to a conference of regional bankers, Snow said it would be inconceivable for Congress not to pass legislation on the debt limit before it heads into a recess at the end of this week. — AFP
Sony to delay PlayStation 3 launch
TOKYO, Mar 15: Sony said Wednesday it will delay the launch of its PlayStation 3 by half a year until November, boosting Microsoft's efforts to win a bigger share of the multi-billion dollar video game industry. The delay, for technical reasons, will give the company more time to prepare for the crucial Thanksgiving Day US holiday in late November, Sony Computer Entertainment President Ken Kutaragi told a press conference. — AFP
US current account deficit hits new high in ‘05
WASHINGTON, Mar 15: The US current account deficit widened to a colossal new high of 804.9 billion dollars in 2005 as consumers binged on cheap imported goods, the government said yesterday. Huge gaps in oil and goods trade pushed the broadest measure of commercial and capital flows up from the 2004 deficit of 668.1 billion dollars, amounting to a record 6.4 per cent of gross domestic product last year. — AFP
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