- CB Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe says SL will move to a “fully floating exchange rate” & the CB will no longer have to collect foreign reserves: also says SL would like to see reserves around 3 months of imports, but not large volumes as recommended by the IMF.
- Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa says he rejects recent allegations regarding the economic management by his team: also says that he remembers how people who talk about depriving the rights of persons, actually worked when in power: asserts it is not necessary to respond to mudslinging whenever people resort to it.
- Former Diplomat & respected Senior Journalist C A Chandraprema says politically interested parties seem to have gone overboard in paroxysms of hatred & triumph, due to the manner in which many media outlets reported the Supreme Court Majority judgement in the FR case against the former Presidents and others: explains that what it stated in the Majority Judgement is that Mahinda Rajapaksa & others had “demonstrably contributed” to the economic crisis, but that there is a significant difference between saying that someone is “responsible” for a certain situation and saying that someone has “demonstrably contributed” towards such situation: further says the Majority Judgement further says that – (a) it would not be appropriate to order the Respondents to pay compensation to the Petitioners & therefore no compensation is ordered: (b) Court notes the Respondents’ argument that the root causes for the economic debacle spread well beyond the time period covered in the Plaint, & therefore no responsibility could be attributed to these Respondents as claimed by the Petitioners: (c) Court notes the Respondents’ claim that heavy borrowings of previous Governments & mismanagement of such funds had a direct impact on the debt sustainability of the country.
- Former Diplomat & respected Senior Journalist C A Chandraprema says Justice Jayawardena’s Dissenting Judgement had dismissed the FR case and covered the following points: (a) Plaintiffs have not invoked the jurisdiction of the Court within 1 month of the alleged infringements, as per Article 126(2) of the Constitution: (b) the decision not to go to the IMF had been communicated to Parliament on 10th Dec’21 by then Finance Minister, the and Cabinet had also decided on 3rd Jan’22 not to get IMF assistance but to pursue a “homegrown” solution to the the fiscal & economic issues faced: (c) the Auditor General’s Report shows the Govt had considered the pros & cons of going to the IMF, the past experiences with IMF, & the effects an IMF programme on the economy & the people, and thereafter taken the “policy decision” not to go to the IMF: (d) Courts do not interfere with “policy matters” or economic decisions, as such matters are highly technical and even experts in those fields hold different opinions on the same point.
- BOI says that RM Parks Inc (a US Petroleum products distributor) has signed an agreement with the BOI to bring USD 110 mn worth Shell products to Sri Lanka: a RM Parks Inc & Shell collaboration to also operate 200 fuel stations & provide services of mini-supermarkets with EV charging facilities as well.
- Dept of Census & Statistics says the overall rate of inflation measured by NCPI on a YoY basis has increased to 1.0% in Oct’23, from 0.8% in Sep’23: Food inflation unchanged in Oct’23 at -5.2%.
- Colombo Stock Market falls for the 6th consecutive market day, wracked by the money market being almost perennially short, complemented by the Govt’s huge borrowing appetite: ASPI now at 10,507 points: turnover at a miserly Rs 912 mn.
- Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera says an agreement for a USD 5 bn Refinery to be built by China in Hambantota district will be submitted to Cabinet next week: also says if the Cabinet approves & the agreement is signed, it will be the single largest investment project ever.
- Sri Lanka’s left-arm speedster Dilshan Madushanka included in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 Team due to his phenomenal individual performances across 7 weeks of high-class international action.
- ICC moves the Under-19 World Cricket Cup to South Africa from Sri Lanka: ICC says the decision has been taken in view of the administrative uncertainty in SL Cricket: further says Cricket involving the SL team will continue uninterrupted.
