The government will allow private sector establishments, including supermarkets, leasing and finance companies, to deal in foreign exchange, a senior Central Bank official announced yesterday. They will operate side by side with authorised money changers, Exchange Controller P.H.O.

Celestial science has become the cause for concern for many Sri Lankan politicians. The latest worry has been caused by a string of planetary changes. Most significant among them, according to frontline astrologers, began at 6.47 a.m. on May 16. Technically that was the entry of Saturn into Virgo. Thereafter, the entry of Jupiter into Taurus at 9.35 a.m. on May 17, some astrologers say, has plunged this year into a state of combustion.