- Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Janet Yellen says Sri Lanka’s creditors should deliver on debt restructuring in a timely manner. Her remarks came during a meeting with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday (June 22), which took place on the sidelines of the Summit in Paris for a New Global Financial Pact.
- Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera says the government’s plans to purchase paddy at a favorable rate of Rs. 90 to 95 per kilo during the upcoming Yala season: confirmed that the Treasury has already assured the availability of funds to facilitate the paddy purchasing program.
- Date fixed for X-Press Pearl petition hearing. A petition filed seeking compensation for the affected parties of the X-Press Pearl disaster, which took place in May 2021, is due to be heard on 26 July. Order was issued by the Commercial High Court in Colombo on Friday (23 June), when the petition filed by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and other parties was taken up.
- The latest data on tea exports reveals a positive trend for the month of May 2023. Total tea exports reached 20.55 million kilograms (M/Kgs), indicating a gain of 0.83 M/Kgs compared to May 2022’s figure of 19.72 M/Kgs.
- President calls for urgent debt restructuring, comprehensive approach to support middle-income nations. He was attending a high-level panel discussion at the Global Leaders’ Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, in Paris. Added that Sri Lanka faced limited access to financing and took ownership of its debt and economic restructuring program.
- Prof. Manjula Fernando has been appointed the new chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL).
- United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has assured the UN’s strong commitment to assisting Sri Lanka in its economic recovery and debt sustainability endeavours.
- President Ranil Wickramasinghe meets French President Emmanuel Macron. The meeting took place during the Head of State session on the second day of the Conference for a New Global Financial Agreement underway in Paris, where the two heads of state engaged in a cordial conversation.
- The Central Bank of Sri Lanka says that Treasury Bill auctions are conducted according to a transparent and well-established procedure. It said that any postponement of raising funds for the government, in anticipation of any change in policy interest rates, is not feasible given the large cashflow requirement of the government and its commitment to phasing out monetary financing by the Central Bank.
- Wanindu Hasaranga made it two five-wicket hauls in as many matches as Sri Lanka claimed their second win of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023, with Scotland matching them. The leg-spinner took six wickets in the opening win over the United Arab Emirates, and was at it again with five for 13 in a ten-wicket success against Oman.
