- India’s Adani Group, John Keells Holdings & Sri Lanka Ports Authority commence construction to jointly develop the West Container Terminal in Colombo with an investment of over USD 700 mn: project to be a Build-Operate-Transfer project.
- President’s Media states President Ranil Wickremesinghe held discussions on debt management with IMF MD Kristalina Georgieva, Finance Minister of Ghana Ken Ofori-Atta and Speaker of Maldives Mohamed Nasheed, on the sidelines of COP27.
- Education Minister Susil Premajayantha says 4,000 principals will be recruited to the government service after the Supreme Court lifts the order suspending the recruitment of principals: also says school system requires 16,000 principals even though there are only 12,000 now.
- SJB MP Dr Harsha Silva says he has report containing facts related to the staff-level agreement between Government and IMF: also says he got it through an “external” party: refuses to disclose contents: it’s now almost 8 months since Sri Lanka sought IMF assistance: no funds received yet from IMF or other bilateral source from that time onwards.
- Acting Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya says Rs.16 bn had been forgone in revenue by government after the special commodity levy imposed on sugar was slashed in 2020: analysts speculate that the levy may be re-imposed shortly to recover the lost revenue.
- Political sources believe nearly 13 MPs of several political parties may join the President’s UNP to support the government in the upcoming budget: these MPs of SLPP and SJB expected to join on the date of the Budget Speech.
- Defence Ministry approves legal discharge of Tri-Forces’ absentees who are currently overseas, provided they report to their relevant units during the “general amnesty” from 15th November to 31st December.
- Central Bank issues Rs.80.9 bn (95.8% of the total issue) 3-month Bills at a staggering 33.14% per annum interest rate: massive “bunching of debt” feared: additional interest incurred by government exceeds Rs.600 bn so far this year.
- Sydney Magistrate lifts suppression order on the media in the case involving Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilake and Australian “dating app” woman: case to be taken again on 12th January 2023: bail application to be forwarded prior to that.
- Top Sri Lankan cricketer Wanindu Hasaranga moves up to the No: 1 position in the latest ICC T20 Rankings for Bowlers: Maheesh Theekshana is ranked 10th: Wanindu is also ranked 8th in the ICC T20 All Rounders Rankings.
