- President Ranil Wickremesinghe says salaries of State Sector employees will be increased via the Budget 2024 and that the Private Sector too will be requested to do the same.
- Minister of Power & Energy Kanchana Wijesekera says the proposed Electricity sector Reforms Bill was submitted for Cabinet approval.
- State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe says “Aswesuma” applicants who were not selected for the benefit due to technical & management issues will be screened again during “Aswesuma Week” from November 6 – 12 & eligible persons will receive the benefits, effective from July’23: also says “Aswesuma” payments for August’23 will be credited to the beneficiary accounts on November 1 & the allowance for September’23 will also be credited during November’23.
- Former CB Deputy Governor W A Wijewardene points out to analyst Dhananath Fernando’s view that SL still does not have sufficient forex to meet its requirements and that when it starts to repay debt after re-structuring, the forex outflow will be more than the limited availability of inflows: explains the implication of that situation is that the exchange rate might start crashing at any time.
- Maligakanda Magistrate imposes a foreign travel ban on the owner of the company which has been accused of importing 22,500 substandard immunoglobulin vials: also imposes a travel ban on the 2 top Govt employees who approved the importation.
- Sri Lanka’s debt office rejects all bids at an auction for the sale of Rs.45 bn Treasury Bonds comprising of Rs.22.5 bn of 2028 maturity & Rs.22.5 bn of 2031 maturity: market participants say the sentiment is negative.
- Jaffna’s Blood Bank informs that it is facing a severe shortage of all blood types & that the shortage is significantly affecting the hospital’s ability to conduct scheduled surgeries.
- SL Railways says several office trains which were scheduled for the evening of 30 October were cancelled due to the shortage of railway guards.
- Sri Lanka loses to Afghanistan by 7 wickets in the ICC World Cup 2023 group level match: SL – 241 (49.3 overs): Pathum Nissanka 46, Kusal Mendis 39, Sadeera Samarawickrama 36; AFG – 242/3 (45.2 overs): Dilshan Madushanka 48/2).
- Percy Abeysekera 87, who led the cheers for the Sri Lanka cricket team for many years, passes away.
