Lanka mission chief Masahiro Nozaki said that IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva discussed

WASHINGTON( Reuters)-The International Monetary Fund said on Saturday that its staff held" fruitful technical discussions" with Sri Lankan authorities on the crisis-wracked country's request for an IMF-supported loan program this week. The Fund said in a statement that the discussions included the need for Sri Lanka to implement" a credible and coherent strategy" to restore macroeconoimc stability and to strengthen its social safety net and protect the poor and vulnerable during the current cris

TOKYO: Japan’s unemployment rate fell in June, feeding into optimism that upward pressure on wages may persist and help Bank of Japan( BoJ) governor Kazuo Ueda achieve his goal of sustainable inflation. The jobless rate fell to 2.5%, the Internal Affairs Ministry said yesterday, the lowest since January. Economists had forecast the reading would hold at 2.6%.... Economists had forecast a rise to 1.32. The gauge is a leading indicator for employment trends and shows there were 130 jobs offered i

TOKYO: Japan’s unemployment rate fell in June, feeding into optimism that upward pressure on wages may persist and help Bank of Japan( BoJ) governor Kazuo Ueda achieve his goal of sustainable inflation. The jobless rate fell to 2.5%, the Internal Affairs Ministry said yesterday, the lowest since January. Economists had forecast the reading would hold at 2.6%.... Economists had forecast a rise to 1.32. The gauge is a leading indicator for employment trends and shows there were 130 jobs offered i

COLOMBO( Reuters)-Streets in Sri Lanka's commercial capital Colombo were calm on Saturday after the president declared a state of emergency following escalating anti-government protests.... Details of the latest emergency regulations were not yet made public, but previous emergency laws have given greater powers to the president to deploy the military, detain people without charge and break up protests.... There were no initial reports of late-night disturbances following the emergency declara

The International Monetary Fund said on Saturday it held “ fruitful technical discussions ” with Sri Lanka on its loan request, while the World Bank said it was preparing an emergency aid package for the crisis-stricken country. Sri Lanka, an island country of 22 million people, is struggling to pay for imports amid a crushing debt crisis and sharp drop in foreign exchange reserves that has fueled soaring inflation.... Prolonged power cuts and shortages of fuel, food and medicines have sparked