Central bank signals higher growth

Sri Lanka has upgraded its growth forecast to more than three percent this year following the end of the island's decades-old ethnic conflict, the central bank chief said Wednesday. With the government declaring the end of fighting in mid-May, the bank expects economic expansion of 3.5 to 4.5 percent in 2009, up from an earlier projection of 2.5 percent to 3.0 percent at the beginning of the year.