- Cabinet Spokesman and Minister Bandula Gunawardena says the Election Commission will have to sell its building, chairs & tables and use the proceeds to fund the LG election”: Treasury Secretary gives affidavit to the Supreme Court that there’s no money for the election: Petroleum Corporation says it doesn’t have funds to provide fuel for the election: IGP says there is a shortage of officers for the election.
- Domestic LP Gas prices likely to increase by approximately Rs 500 per 12.5Kg cylinder in February, in line with global market prices.
- State Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya says Govt is struggling as the expenditure in January is Rs.625 bn while revenue is only Rs.145 bn: laments Govt can’t “print” any more money and there’s no one to give loans as well: some economists say the Govt is on the brink of default with T-Bills bunching to dangerously critical levels.
- Headline Inflation based on the National Consumer Price Index decreases to 59.2% in December 2022, compared to 65.0% in November: Food Inflation decreases to 59.3% in December, compared to 69.8% in November.
- State Finance Minister Shehan Semasinghe says providing relief to the poor is an essential factor in the IMF programme: expresses gratitude to creditors for their support in providing financial assurances as per the request of the IMF.
- Director, Biodiversity Secretariat Mrs R H M P Abeykoon says 81 of the country’s bird species are threatened with extinction with 19 species being “critically endangered” and 48 “endangered”: also says 32 bird species are “on the brink of extinction”.
- Govt source says Cabinet proposal being prepared to divest Govt stakes in 5 key SOEs – SriLankan Airlines, Telecom, Hilton, Waters Edge & SL Insurance: aim to raise USD 1.5 to 2.0 bn from the divestment: the Head of the Govt’s SOE Restructuring Unit is Suresh Shah, a former Director of Carsons & Lion Brewery owned by the influential Selvanathan family: Shah also lobbied strongly for the sovereign debt default.
- Human Rights Commission states the right to equality of the students sitting the GCE ‘A’ Level exam starting from 23rd January has been violated by the hours-long power cuts: asks Secretary, Ministry of Energy and PUC Chairman to instruct CEB to stop power-cuts during the exam period.
- Senior Adviser to the President on Food Security Dr. Suren Batagoda says the President intends to turn the poultry and egg industry into an export industry.
- FIFA Council suspends the Football Federation of Sri Lanka with effect from 21st January 2023.
