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Lanka to import food aid from Indian LOC

Sri Lanka’s Treasury is to inform India the essential items by next week…reports Asian Lite News

Facing a severe food crisis, Sri Lanka has decided to import some essential food items from a total of $120 million remaining from the Indian Line of Credit (LOC) that was given to purchase various other items but remained unutilised so far.

A selected number of essential food items are planned to be imported out of $1 billion LOC extended in March this year. The LOC had been extended for the procurement of food, medicines, and other essential items from India.

Trade, Commerce, and Food Security Minister Nalin Fernando told media that the requirement of essential food items have been forwarded and awaiting the response. The food requirements also to be forwarded to the committees appointed to study the Indian LOC through the Finance Ministry, he added.

Sri Lanka’s Treasury is to inform India the essential items by next week.

Media reports indicated that nearly 40 per cent of the Indian LOC still remained unutilised, though the country has a shortage of many essential items. Affected by shortage of some of the essential medicines, the Health Ministry had recently expedited the procurement of medicines using the Indian LOC. However depending on most of the imported food items, the country is facing severe shortages of many food items.

Releasing the Complex Emergency Needs Assessment Report on Sri Lanka’s worst ever economic crisis since independence in 1948, the International Federation of Red Cross last week revealed that 96 per cent of Sri Lankans have been affected by the crisis with some pressing issues of food insecurity, health concerns, livelihoods, and nutrition.

“The deepening economic crisis is forcing people to make heart-breaking choices between going hungry, buying life-saving medicine, or finding the money to send children to school,” the report, prepared after surveying 2900 households and case studies of 10 estates in the tea plantation sector where most low waged poor reside, stated.

The report has noted that Sri Lanka is experiencing a “worryingly high problems of access to food, either because of high cost, income stress or lack of availability. Runaway inflation and loss of livelihoods have doubly impacted people’s ability to cope with the record cost of living. Income loss is causing significant food insecurity, while inflation is driving up the cost of medicine and fuel costs are preventing access to essential healthcare”.

It warned that without immediate humanitarian interventions, the impact on communities in the Indian Ocean Island is likely to be long-lasting and cumulative.

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23 October 2022
Ranil stresses need for high taxes despite protests

Making a special statement televised on Wednesday night, President Wickremesinghe said that it was not possible to strengthen the economy without increasing the revenue of the country…writes Susitha Fernando

Stressing the urgent need to impose high taxes despite mounting public protests, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe warned that the country would have to revert to an ‘era of queues’ if revenue is not raised through a direct tax increase.

Making a special statement televised on Wednesday night, President Wickremesinghe said that it was not possible to strengthen the economy without increasing the revenue of the country, which will compel him to reluctantly make tough decisions in order to rebuild the nation.

However political parties, academics, activists and people have warned against the decision to increase taxes, specially at a time when the country going through a severe economic crisis. Opposition parties have warned that people would be called to streets if the tax hike is introduced.

Facing a massive inflation and dollar crunch, Sri Lanka awaits an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout of $3.8 billion within a period of four years as a measure to come out of the economic calamity. One of the main IMF conditions is to exceed 20 per cent of direct tax revenue and the government is to tax everyone who earns more than Rs 100,000 (around $275) a month.

“The agreed goal is to achieve 14.5 per cent- 15 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) revenue by 2026,” Wickremesinghe said.

“If Sri Lanka withdraws from this programme, IMF assistance will not be received. Without IMF certification, the support of these international financial institutions such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and the countries that have been supported financially will not be forthcoming. If that happens, the country will be back to the era of queues,” President stated.

He said that tougher times ahead will have to be faced. “Therefore, these loans need to be obtained and embark on a debt-restructuring programme. These decisions are not being taken wilfully, but are being done reluctantly. However, these decisions will be reconsidered periodically,” the President told the people.

IMF urges Lebanon to implement ‘agreed-upon’ reforms

During his address, President Wickremesinghe also said that as an important step in Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring programme, a meeting had been convened last week by the IMF with the aim of bringing the three main countries Japan, China and India, which have granted loans to Sri Lanka, on a common platform to discuss the future steps in the formulation of concessions.

“India and China have informed that they will examine the issues further and respond accordingly. These two countries have also informed the possible need for bilateral discussions in this regard,” President Wickremesinghe said in a televised public statement.

Wickremesinghe blamed the last government run by Gotabaya Rajapaksa charging that the country lost Rs 700 billion (nearly $1.9 billion) due to wrong economic policies and the inflation rate increased to 70 per cent since Rs 2,300 billion ($6.2 billion) was printed during the past two and a half years.

ALSO READ: Sri Lanka working with India on energy projects

20 October 2022
Sri Lanka SC orders to summon Gotabaya on rights case

Gotabaya, who served as Defence Secretary when the two men disappeared was prior asked by the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court to appear in court on 27th September and provide evidence…reports Asian Lite News

Sri Lankan Supreme Court on Wednesday has given orders to summon former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa over the disappearance of two human rights activists in 2011 as he is now out of constitutional powers.

The order was issued after taking up for consideration a petition filed by the relatives of human rights and political activists, Lalith Weeraraj and Kugan Murugananthan who went missing on December 9, 2011, when Gotabaya Rajapaksa was serving as the Defence Secretary, NewsWire reported.

Gotabaya, who served as Defence Secretary when the two men disappeared was prior asked by the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court to appear in court on 27th September and provide evidence.

However, the former president dodged the court’s orders and claimed danger to his life if he were to appear in court to provide the evidence, according to NewsWire. He later filed a motion at the Court of Appeal, seeking an order to suspend the order of the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court in the disappearance case.

Later, Gotabaya was elected as the President of Sri Lanka when the verdict was announced on the disappearnce case, however, he was freed from summoning due to his title and the constitutional powers that followed.

As soon as he resigned from his position due to the crisis in the country, the family of victims filed the petition, hearing which the Supreme Court on Wednesday instructed the lawyer representing the petitioners to issue a new notice to former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to appear before the court to provide evidence.

The Supreme Court also fixed the next hearing of the petition for 15th December 2022, NewsWire reported.

The former president fled the county following mass agitations calling for his resignation on July 9. Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka in the early hours of July 13 after massive protests erupted in Colombo and demonstrators angry with the country’s economic crisis stormed his official residence and office.

He resigned as president after reaching Singapore, where he was issued a 14-day visit pass.

He had fled to Singapore via the Maldives and then spent a few weeks in Thailand. He returned to Sri Lanka almost after two months after fleeing to Thailand.

Sri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948, which comes on the heels of successive waves of COVID-19, threatening to undo years of development progress and severely undermining the country’s ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). (ANI)

ALSO READ: Lanka looks to India for help finding missing Navy boat

20 October 2022
T20: Sri Lanka crush UAE by 79 runs

Facing the hat-trick ball, Dasun Shanaka had no answer to the wonderful googly that found the gap between bat and pad and rattled his stumps as Meiyappan wheeled off in celebration…reports Asian Lite News

Sri Lanka put on an exhibition of fast bowling under lights to crush United Arab Emirates by 79 runs in a Group A match of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 and give themselves a massive NRR boost at the Simonds Stadium, here on Tuesday.

After their defeat against Namibia, Sri Lanka bounced back in style and the margin of victory takes their NRR (+0.60) past Netherlands'(+0.15).

Put into bat first, the opening partnership worth 42 runs between Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis got the Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka off to a great start. Despite the wicket of Mendis in the fifth over, Shanaka’s men were the happier side at the end of the Powerplay with over 50 runs.

This was followed by a 50-run stand between Dhananjaya de Silva and Nissanka. The all-rounder was the aggressor between the two, smashing a 21-ball 33 consisting of three fours and a six before a run-out brought his innings to a premature end.

Sri Lanka were cruising towards a big total but leg-spinner Karthik Meiyappan turned the tables completely with his hat-trick Meiyappan came into the bowl the 15th over, with Pathum Nissanka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa at the crease.

The over triggered a middle-order collapse, putting the pressure back on Sri Lanka. Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s attempt to go inside-out saw him hole out in the deep to Kashif Daud. Charith Asalanka departed for a golden duck as he nicked the ball to Vriitya Aravind.

Facing the hat-trick ball, Dasun Shanaka had no answer to the wonderful googly that found the gap between bat and pad and rattled his stumps as Meiyappan wheeled off in celebration.

Meiyappan became the first player to claim a hat-trick for UAE in T20Is. It was also the first hat-trick of the tournament. However, Nissanka, who got to his fifty in the same over as the hat-trick, got a move on and helped Sri Lanka post a competitive total of 152-8 in 20 overs. A blinder from Basil Hameed brought an end to his innings where he scored almost half of Sri Lanka’s team total.

Chasing a par total, three of UAE’s first four victims were cleaned up as Dushmantha Chameera and Pramod Madushan put on an exhibition of fast bowling, swinging and seaming the new ball around.

Under the lights, UAE struggled to get going, losing four wickets inside the powerplay to be reduced to 21/4. Wanindu Hasaranga came on to pile on UAEs woes and the scorecard soon read 42/7 in 12 overs with Sri Lanka eyeing a huge win.

Maheesh Theekshana had the first-innings hero Meiyappan stumped and Hasaranga picked up a third in the 15th by cleaning up Afzal Khan to finish with exceptional figures of 3 for 8 and push UAE to 56 for 9.

UAE’s No 10 batter Junaid Siddique (18) came out all guns blazing, and extended his stay till the 18th over. Shanaka brought back Chameera to end the innings, only for Siddique to smash a short ball out of the ground for the biggest six of the tournament.

Siddique attempted to go after Theekshana too and perished in the 18th over as UAE were eventually bowled out for 73 as Sri Lanka romped home to a 79-run win.

Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 152/8 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 74, Dhananjaya de Silva 33; Karthik Meiyappan 3-19, Zahoor Khan 2-26) beat UAE 73 in 17.1 overs (Junaid Siddique 18; Wanindu Hasaranga 3-8, Dushmantha Chameera 3-15, Pramod Madushan 2-15) by 79 runs.

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19 October 2022
Lanka looks to India for help finding missing Navy boat

The spokesman said that the boat ventured to Indian Ocean from the southern coast on an operation on September 16 and lost all…reports Susith Fernando

Sri Lanka has sought the support of India and other neighbouring countries to find a Navy boat with six sailors, which had reportedly gone missing for more than a month while on a naval operation.

SLN spokesman Indika De Silva told media that details of the missing boat had been shared with the Indian authorities and other neighbours like the Maldives, Indonesia and Australia.

The spokesman said that the boat ventured to Indian Ocean from the southern coast on an operation on September 16 and lost all

communication on September 17.

The SLN had deployed several vessels to search the boat with sailors and had intensified the operation with the help of an aircraft of Sri

Lanka Air Force.

The Navy suspects that the boat would have been drifted to the international waters after getting caught in a heavy current following an engine breakdown.

SLN carries out regular patrols to nab trafficking of narcotics which is regular in the sea routes closer to Sri Lanka, and human smugglers

who take rides mostly to Australia.

ALSO READ: Sri Lanka working with India on energy projects

18 October 2022
‘India has big role to play in Lanka’s clean tech’

“In the future Indian companies have a major role to play investing in solar, wind, electric transport and a lot more,” Erik Solheim told Vishal Gulati

India has already extended critical help to debit-ridden Sri Lanka as an expression of support to brotherly people. The economic situation in the island nation is still very dire, but the wheels have started rolling again. In the future, Indian companies have a major role to play investing in renewables with Adani already announcing important wind energy investments.

These were the assertions of Erik Solheim, who has been appointed President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s International Climate Adviser along with former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed.

In an exclusive virtual interview, Solheim told IANS on Friday that India has already extended critical help to Sri Lanka as an expression of support to brotherly people.

“The economic situation is still very dire in Sri Lanka, but the wheels have started rolling again, not least thanks to the Indian support. In the future Indian companies have a major role to play investing in solar, wind, electric transport and a lot more. Adani has already announced important wind energy investments,” he said.

On August 16, Sri Lanka’s Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera announced to grant provisional approval to Adani Green Energy for an investment of over $500 million in two wind projects in the island nation.

Solheim, who described his meeting with Wickremesinghe on October 12 as “good”, said the President has a great vision for green economic recovery and for Sri Lankan climate leadership.

“It is hard to think of any politician with a better grasp of economic realities than President Wickremesinghe,” remarked Solheim, who worked as the UN Environment Program (UNEP) Executive Director.

“Wickremesinghe will provide the leadership needed to take Sri Lanka out of the crisis. But his job is thankless because the only way out of the crisis is hard work. There will be higher taxes and probably cuts in unnecessary public expenditure. There will be pain in the short run, but in the long term the opportunities for Sri Lanka are very positive,” an optimistic Solheim, who acted as the main facilitator of the peace process in Sri Lanka from 1998 to 2005, told IANS.

With India being Sri Lanka’s third-largest trading partner after the US and the UK, it plays a crucial partner by extending unprecedented bilateral assistance amounting close to $4 billion this year for ameliorating the difficulties faced by the people of the island nation.

India has also advocated to other bilateral and multilateral partners supporting Sri Lanka expeditiously in its current economic difficulties, said the Indian embassy in Colombo on September 20.

“We continue to be supportive of Sri Lanka in all possible ways, in particular by promoting long-term investments from India in key economic sectors in Sri Lanka for its early economic recovery and growth.

“In addition our bilateral development cooperation projects in Sri Lanka, which cumulatively total about $3.5 billion, are ongoing,” it adds.

According to Solheim, green development is a very important pathway out of the crisis for the island nation.

“Renewable energies as solar, wind and hydro, electric mobility, tree planting, green agriculture and environment-friendly tourism all provide massive opportunities for jobs and prosperity. These are win-win policies, good for environment and economy at the same time.”

As his role as President’s International Climate Advisor, he remarked, “I will help him and his staff formulate the right policies to attract green investment from domestic and international business, not least Indian. I will try to help making international connections and help Sri Lanka learning from best environment practices in China, India, Europe and other places.”

“Yes, exactly,” remarked the former UN Environment chief when asked for remarks on climate change literally an existential threat to the nation.

“The dry north of Sri Lanka may be dryer, the wet south wetter. We may see more extreme weather and more landslides. But taking climate action is also a major opportunity for Sri Lanka to create jobs and prosperity, to make cities greener and improve health by reducing pollution,” added Solheim.

During his tenure at UNEP, he played a crucial role in 2018 in convincing India to phase out single-use plastics from July 1, 2022, a major achievement in his crusade against plastic pollution.

ALSO READ: India seriously probing death of kids, Jaishankar tells Gambia

14 October 2022
SL urges WB loans for poorer nations

The government has stated that Sri Lanka will remain a middle-income country. However Sri Lanka no longer qualifies for International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) loans due to a downgrade of its credit rating…reports Susitha Fernando

Sri Lanka is to urge the World Bank to grant it concessionary funding given to poorer nations while remaining a middle-income country.

The island nation would seek the eligibility for International Development Association (IDA) loans while remaining as a middle-income country, the President’s Office announced on Tuesday. Cabinet approval has been obtained to make the request from the World Bank, it said.

“This is with the aim of obtaining concessionary funding from the IDA – an arm of the World Bank that helps the world’s vulnerable countries. This facility is called ‘Gap’,” President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Office said in a statement.

“Twelve countries including Indonesia have availed themselves of this facility when they were facing economic downturn similar to Sri Lanka. The government is pursuing a ‘reverse graduation’ policy for a limited period of time,” it stated.

The government has stated that Sri Lanka will remain a middle-income country. However Sri Lanka no longer qualifies for International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) loans due to a downgrade of its credit rating.

Earlier on Tuesday, Cabinet Minister and spokesman Bandula Gunawardena told media that Sri Lanka has decided to downgrade itself from status of middle-income country to a low- income country. This was with the aim of attracting more foreign concessionary funding from the IDA.

Sri Lanka was forced to downgrade itself due to financial constraints, dried-up foreign reserves, skyrocketing inflation and difficulty in debt repayment. Faced with the worst-ever financial crisis in the history, in May this year, the Indian Ocean island nation defaulted its external debt repayment. Decided by the Central Bank, the country suspended repayments of its international loans around $7 billion which is out of total foreign debt more than $51billion due for the year 2022.

Sri Lanka, which was elevated to the upper middle-income category was downgraded to a developing or emerging lower-middle-income economy in 2020, the year following the Easter Sunday attacks, a deadly blow on country’s tourism industry, one of the main foreign currency generator. The ISIS-led disaster was followed by the Covid 19 pandemic which crippled the country’s textile industry and foreign income earned by the migrant workers.

ALSO READ: India to train 1,500 Sri Lankan army personnel

12 October 2022
India to train 1,500 Sri Lankan army personnel

The event included Chief of Defence Staff General Shavendra Silva and Commander of the Lanka Army Lt. Gen. Vikum Liyanage….reports Asian Lite News

India will provide training to 1,500 personnel of the Sri Lankan armed forces every year. The Sri Lankan media quoted Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay as saying that India has provided training to Sri Lanka even in “challenging times”–a possible reference to the time when the Tamil separatist movement was at its peak.

In a report on Saturday, The Island newspaper reported that Baglay told a gathering of Indian Army Trainees Alumni that India will continue to provide training to the armed forces as part of its Neighbourhood First policy.

The event included Chief of Defence Staff General Shavendra Silva and Commander of the Lanka Army Lt. Gen. Vikum Liyanage.

The defence forces of the two countries have close bonds and regularly carry out military exercises as part of their effort to enhance security in the vital Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

The bonding between and the training engagements between the two defence forces have created a spirit of brotherhood and interoperability. Gen Silva also commended the efforts of High Commissioner Baglay in connecting the two countries as friendly, mutually-respecting and caring neighbours. He added that India has always been at the forefront in training the Sri Lankan armed forces personnel.

Over the course of this year, India has pumped in $4 billion worth of support to Sri Lanka as the nation defaulted on foreign debt and faced a severe payment crisis. India is also helping the island nation in acquiring bail-out loans from international monetary agencies.

ALSO READ: Breather for Lanka as foreign workers send more money

10 October 2022
Breather for Lanka as foreign workers send more money

Compared to July 2022, workers’ remittances have jumped 29 percent, with an increase of 80 million U.S. dollars between July and September..reports Asian Lite News

The remittances sent by Sri Lankan foreign workers abroad increased by 10 per cent in September compared with August, 2022.

Statistics released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) on Saturday showed that workers’ remittances grew to 359 million U.S. dollars last month from 325 million U.S. dollars in August, Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara said.

Compared to July 2022, workers’ remittances have jumped 29 percent, with an increase of 80 million U.S. dollars between July and September, Xinhua news agency reported.

However, workers’ remittances in the first nine months this year are still 43 per cent lower than the remittances of the same period in 2021, the central bank said.

Last week, the governor of the Central Bank said that foreign remittances have increased steadily in the past few months due to the monetary policies.

ALSO READ: Welfare programme for 3.1 mn Lankan families

9 October 2022
Welfare programme for 3.1 mn Lankan families

The PMD also said the economic situation in the South Asian island country will improve in 2023….reports Asian Lite News

The Sri Lankan government launched its restructured welfare benefits programme that will benefit 3.1 million vulnerable families.

President’s Media Division (PMD) said on Thursday that they have started registering those who deserve the government assistance and those who are interested in receiving the aid must register before October 15.

Applications can be downloaded from the website of the Welfare Benefits Board, the PMD said. The format of applications will also be published in all newspapers.

The theme of the programme is to “leave no one behind.”

Among those who are eligible to seek the benefit are those who already receive government assistance, those who are chronically ill or disabled, the elderly, and those who have lost their livelihood due to the current economic crisis.

The PMD also said the economic situation in the South Asian island country will improve in 2023.

Tourism hopes

Sri Lanka hopes to attract over 900,000 tourists by the end of this year as the country works toward restoring normalcy following recent economic and political instability, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) said on Wednesday.

SLTDA Chairperson Priantha Fernando said in a statement that Sri Lanka aims to attract at least 972,475 tourists by the end of 2022, Xinhua news agency reported.

“We are not happy with the arrival figures over the last nine months. It is a gradual build-up, fighting against the negativity,” Fernando said.

“However efforts are being taken to increase the influx of international visitors for the remaining months of the year,” he added.

Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals faced a drastic drop in September, when only 29,802 visitors entered the country despite the relaxation of travel restrictions imposed by key source markets.

According to industry experts, the country is well behind its competitors in the region in its tourism sector recovery. Competing nations such as the Maldives have been welcoming well over 100,000 tourists on a monthly basis for the past several months, while tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka have been ranging from 30,000 to 60,000, official statistics have shown.

Tourism, one of Sri Lanka’s leading foreign exchange earners, has suffered a setback due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic and political crises.

Interest rates unchanged

Sri Lanka’s central bank decided to maintain the Standing Deposit Facility Rate (SDFR) and the Standing Lending Facility Rate (SLFR) at their current levels of 14.50 per cent and 15.50 per cent, respectively.

The central bank announced on Thursday that it arrived at this decision after considering the latest macroeconomic conditions, expected developments, and macroeconomic projections, Xinhua news agency reported.

It said it noted the present tight monetary conditions, the reducing pace of inflation, and both domestic and global factors have helped the country stabilise.

The current fiscal policies are complementing the monetary policy and are helping to mitigate any build-up of aggregate demand pressures, it said.

The central bank expects the country’s headline inflation to drop to 4 to 6 percent over the medium term.

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7 October 2022