- “Paris Club” informs Govt that it would delay its final proposal on SL’s debt restructuring until the agreement between the China Exim Bank and the SL Govt is disclosed; a Govt internal statement indicates that the Chinese side has not yet responded to the SL Govt’s request to allow the sharing of the confidential agreement between the two parties, with the Paris Club.
- Foreign investors dump Rs.34.1 bn (USD 106mn) of SL Govt securities in 14 weeks upto November 3: foreign holdings in SL’s Treasury bills & bonds falls to Rs.148.4bn by November 3 from Rs.182.5bn on July 27: analysts say the sudden & inexplicable sharp appreciation of the LKR by the Central Bank enabled (hot-money) foreign investors to earn massive capital gains as they were able to buy Govt Securities when the LKR was at 365 & thereafter sell the Securities when the LKR appreciated to a range between 300 and 335.
- Court of Appeal dismisses 3 Petitions filed by Judicial Officers Associations which sought the prevention of PAYE being applied to members of the Judiciary.
- Public Security Minister Tiran Alles says he had been approached with an offer of a bribe of Rs.700mn to facilitate the transfer of Underworld Kingpin ‘Harak Kata’ to Dubai, rather than bringing him to SL on his arrest: says the person who extended the bribe to him, met with an unfortunate fate: warns that Officers in Charge of Police Stations would be held accountable for any criminal activities in their respective areas.
- SriLankan Airlines & Ceylon Electricity Board to receive Rs. 238.9bn from the Treasury to settle their debts, enabling the two entities to restructure their balance sheets ahead of their divestment process: supplementary estimate of such requirement to be submitted to Parliament shortly.
- Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe appoints an Interim Committee for Sri Lanka Cricket: Arjuna Ranatunga (Chairman), Retired Judges S I Imam, Rohini Marasinghe & Iranganie Perera, Upali Dharmadasa, Rakitha Rajapakshe & Hisham Jamaldeen.
- Ceylon Electricity Board says it has suffered a loss of nearly Rs.80mn in the first 8 months of 2023 due to unlawfully altered electrical installations & electricity meters.
- Colombo’s Marine Drive to be closed near the Bambalapitiya railway station till further notice due to the demolition work of the passenger flyover near the railway station: Police urge motorists to use alternative routes.
- Several newly appointed Ambassadors present credentials to President Ranil Wickremesinghe: the new Ambassadors are from Latvia, Cambodia, Portugal, Suriname, Djibouti, Angola, Finland, Venezuela & Norway.
- SL Cricket team cancels its training session due to the severe air pollution in the city of New Delhi: SL is scheduled to play their World Cup league match in Delhi on Monday.
