- SLPP leader & former President Mahinda Rajapaksa alleges that USD 10,000mn in new International Sovereign Bonds were issued between 2015 and 2019 by the Yahapalana administration, comprising the UNP & SLFP which debilitated the economy: asserts when he was voted out in Jan’15, the outstanding ISB debt was only USD 5,000mn.
- SJB MP & Economic Guru Harsha de Silva cautions Govt against counting loans received from IMF, World Bank & ADB as “external buffers” as they have to be paid back: asserts that loans from whatever sources are not earned reserves: analysts point out that at end-2019, when the Yahapalanaya Govt relinquished office, the External Reserves were USD 7.6bn, while the ISBs outstanding were USD 15.0bn, which meant that ISB loans were USD 7.4bn higher than the Reserves.
- Anti-Parate Activist & National Construction Association Chairman Susantha Liyanaarachchi says businesses can’t get any support from the banking sector as all banks have tightened up after SL announced bankruptcy: laments SMEs which had previously contributed to around 51% of GDP, have now started to collapse.
- Trade Unions of various sectors gear up for comprehensive joint discussions to address Govt’s attempts to privatise electricity, banking, insurance, telecom & postal services: initial discussions to commence next week.
- Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles says orders issued to arrest 4,664 persons, who are allegedly involved in drug trafficking & underworld activities: explains ongoing islandwide Police operation “Yukthiya” at a media briefing: receives a threatening phone call after the briefing, which is now being investigated by Police.
- Customs Dept fails to collect over Rs.61bn in tax arrears last year: able to collect only 9% of the outstanding taxes.
- Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith says a 4-member family requires at least Rs.120,000 per month to have 3 meals per day, but a common man receives a wage of about Rs70,000 to 80,000 only: asserts people have been pushed into borrowing & a “debt economy” is now emerging: also asserts professionals leave the country as the income they receive is inadequate to pay income taxes.
- Benchmark 1-year T-Bill weekly auction fails for the 13th consecutive week: Central Bank able to sell only 14.2% (Rs 7,797 million) of its original offer of Rs 55,000mn: even after such a low sale, the weighted average yield increases by 10 bps to 12.93%: Central Bank also fails to sell the total T-Bills offered for the 2nd consecutive market week: analysts warn a Govt liquidity crisis of unprecedented magnitude is brewing.
- State Minister of Finance, Shehan Semasinghe says “Aswesuma” payments for Dec’23 for 1,410,064 families, amounting to Rs.8,793mn has been transferred to Banks: also says the Govt has so far paid Rs.51,967mn from July to Dec’23 to 303,199 extremely poor families, 606,496 poor families, 290,624 vulnerable families and 209,745 transitional families.
- Dept of Census & Statistics says Overall Rate of Inflation, as measured by National Consumer Price Index was 2.8% in Nov’23, compared to 1.0% in Oct’23: Food-Inflation in Nov’23 increased to -2.2% from -5.2% in Oct’23; Non-Food Inflation increased to 7.1% in Nov’23 from 6.3% in Oct’23.
