Business news for Mon, 24 Dec 2007 & with word money. 13 news.

SRI Lanka's central bank will probably keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at the highest level in Asia in a bid to contain inflation without threatening economic growth. Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Nivard Cabraal will leave the repurchase rate at 10.5 percent for a 10th straight meeting, according to nine of 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Two expect a half point increase. The decision is due tomorrow in Colombo. The central bank forecasts the economy will next year expand between seven percent and 7.5 percent, the fastest pace in 30 years, as the government spends money to rebuild the eastern region captured from Tamil Tiger rebels in July. Cabraal said last month that borrowing costs at a five-year high were sufficient to bring inflation below 10 percent next year from about 20 percent now. "The central bank will look to fuel growth as much as possible," said Geeth Balasuriya, an analyst at HNB Stockbrokers Pvt in Colombo. "Although

Elderly plaintiffs have sued companies for financial abuse even though they admit they made unwise decisions.

Even die-hard buy-and-hold investors who would never think in terms of trading more than once a year or so can be thrown when they find themselves with an unexpected pool of money -- a nice year-end bonus, say -- that they would like to put to work. At those times, it can be tempting to wait for what looks like an optimal time to get into the market.

Pundits are predicting that 2008 will be the year when the party ends for property. This is Money rounds up the experts' forecasts and investigates whether your home will sell in 2008

Zimbabweans have stood in long, chaotic lines outside banks, desperate to draw money before stores close for the holidays.

It's been a nerve-wracking year for investors, with the subprime mortgage collapse, oil threatening $100 a barrel and the prospect looming of the first U.S. recession in more than six years. Crain's spoke with Chicago-area money managers for thoughts on 2007 and what might await in 2008. DOLLAR ...

Thousands of older Americans have sued companies that promoted dubious offers even though the victims concede they made unwise decisions.

Thousands of older Americans have filed suits against companies who have promoted dubious offers even though the victims concede they freely made unwise decisions.

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Singapore's inflation rate hit a 25-year high of 4.2% in November from a year earlier, reflecting higher food and housing prices, according to reports. Economists had expected the consumer price index to rise 3.9% in November, slightly faster than the 3.6% rise recorded in October. Food prices, the largest weighted category within the index, climbed 5.2% and housing prices climbed 2.9%. Singapore's broad measure of money supply, or M2, expanded 18% in October from a year earlier, figures released by the Monetary Authority showed. Analysts said the inflation data stoked speculation the authority would hike interest rates before a scheduled review in April.

I'll get used to Christmas, if only in my dreams I MARRIED Christmas. No, that isn't my wife's first name, nor did I marry for the holiday the way some people marry for money. Like so many assimilated American Jews, I grew up admiring the lights and the trees and the shopping-mall Santas, but not celebrating the holiday itself. Non-observance of Christmas was a bedrock principle of my equally assimilated parents' religious self-definition. We may have eaten bacon freely and never set foot in a synagogue, but when one of us children whistled "Jingle Bells" or asked to string lights on a tree, we once again were slaves in Egypt. My wife's family, by contrast, celebrates Christmas with a fervour and intensity (and joy, of course) that still amazes me. Over the top of my computer I see a dozen different creches arrayed atop a cabinet. Eight miniature golden reindeer lead a well-stuffed sleigh across the mantle; red bows are tied around everything upright that will hold them; holly branches garland pictures; and red-and-white striped candles are ready to be lit. There is no tree yet; we'll select and cut our own tomorrow from an orchard located in the nearby town of, believe it or not, Bethlehem, Connecticut. ...

Carrollton Bank has filed a complaint in Baltimore City Circuit Court, seeking money from defunct advertising firm Eisner Communications Inc.

Where do you draw the line when you're trying to spread the word that people should spend money in locally owned businesses?

TAMPA --Improvements could be coming for the Tampa Port Authority's Port Redwing district now that the Port Authority secured a $3.8 million grant from the Florida Department of Transportation District Intermodal Program. (MOS)