- President Ranil Wickremesinghe to visit India next month between 20 and 30 July on his first official tour since assuming office as President: likely to meet Indian PM Narendra Modi on 21 July.
- Treasury Report indicates Public debt surged by USD 6.9 bn in the first 3 months of 2023 compared to the end of last year, due to unprecedented domestic borrowing by the Govt: total debt in USD increased from USD 84.7 bn to USD 91.6 bn.
- SJB National Organiser MP Tissa Attanayake says the current economic stability in the country is a temporary situation due to the imposition of restrictions on the import of goods and the suspension of foreign debt repayments: warns that when debt repayment resumes and import restrictions are relaxed, the LKR is likely to depreciate again.
- Separate investigations underway by the CID and Auditor General’s Dept over the organic fertiliser deals with China and India: Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported to be discussing the matter with its counterparts to rectify the matter without damaging the long-standing ties between the countries.
- Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay says Sri Lanka’s request for a soft loan facility from India to extend the runway at Palali airport is being evaluated.
- SJB MP Harsha Silva who has been strongly advocating privatisation of SOEs, says robust regulation is the best way to address national security concerns associated with telecommunication services: asserts questions of ownership are largely immaterial: opines fears of a national security risk posed by the proposed sale of Sri Lanka Telecom’s shares has no basis in fact.
- Hatton National Bank announces the resignation of its Chairperson Aruni Goonetilleke and appointment of Nihal Jayawardene PC as its new Chairman.
- Leading athlete Grashan Dhananjaya goes “missing” while representing Sri Lanka at an invitational athletics meet in Switzerland: Dhananjaya is the Sri Lanka record holder in the Triple Jump (Men) and National Champion in the Long Jump.
- SL Telephone Dealers’ Association decide to reduce the current mobile phone prices by 20% due to the appreciation of the LKR: data shows new mobile phone demand has decreased by 40% during the past few months.
- Chinese Embassy in Colombo hosts reception to appreciate SL’s efforts on the rescue mission of its fishing vessel that capsized in the central part of Indian Ocean on May 16.
