- Litro Gas Chairman Muditha Pieris says the price of a 12.5kg cylinder of Litro domestic LP gas has been increased with effect from 1st Jan’24 by Rs.685 to Rs. 4,250, 5kg by Rs.276 to Rs.1,707, and 2.3 kg by Rs.127 to Rs.795: the price of a 12.5kg cylinder in March’22 was Rs.2,675.
- National Transport Commission says bus fares will not be increased even though the price of diesel has been increased.
- SJB trade union leader Ananda Palitha says the Govt is continuing to charge Rs.50 on a litre of petrol and diesel “to recover losses” incurred by the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, even after imposing 18% VAT on fuel from 1st Jan’24: analysts say LIOC & Sinopec make windfall profits as a result.
- Informed sources say SL has given an undertaking to India that it will not allow any Chinese research vessels to dock at its Ports or operate within its exclusive economic zone for 1 year: also say this means Chinese scientific research vessel “Xiang Yang Hong 3”, scheduled to conduct “deep water exploration” in the South Indian Ocean from 5th Jan’24 to late May, will not be granted clearance by SL authorities: in 2023, at least 25 Chinese ships including warships, submarines, ballistic missile trackers and research vessels have operated in the Indian Ocean Region.
- Tourism Development Authority says 210,352 tourists arrived in Dec’23, bringing the total tourist arrivals to 1,487,303 in the year 2023.
- Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera says a special programme has been launched to increase the local coconut production by 1 bn nuts in the next 3 years to achieve a total production of 5 bn nuts.
- SLPP MPs Professor G L Peiris & Dilan Perera declare that they will move to form a political alliance under the leadership of Opposition Leader in view of the Presidential Elections.
- Official data shows SL’s imports fell significantly in Nov’23 to USD 1,389mn from USD 1,610mn in Oct’23: worker remittances also drop drastically in Nov’23 to USD 384mn from USD 683mn in Oct’23.
- President’s Office State Revenue Unit Director General M J Gunasiri says Govt revenue has surpassed Rs.3,000bn in 2023 for the 1st time in history: says Govt collected Rs.3,115bn: also says the Govt’s tax revenues have been able to meet the expenses other than the interest expenses.
- Customs Senior Director Seevali Arukgoda says SL Customs has made its highest revenue generation of Rs.970bn in 2023: also says this achievement is 109% of the amended revenue target of Rs.893bn: the original revenue target set for Customs at the start of 2023 was Rs.1,217bn, but later reduced to Rs.893bn owing to the “unstable economic situation”.
