- Farmer organisations urge Govt to lift the palm oil plantation ban: say that will result in reactivation of the plantation sector and save about USD 300 mn spent on importing around 220,000 MT of palm oil: palm oil cultivation in SL was abruptly banned in 2020 when Dr Ramesh Pathirana was Plantations Minister.
- National Medicines Regulatory Authority Chairman Dr Ananda Wijewickrama raises concerns over the Health Ministry’s recent decision to allow State hospitals to directly purchase medicines: claims such unregulated purchases bypasses NMRA oversight and compromises public health.
- CB Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe says SL hopes to negotiate a debt restructuring deal with holders of its defaulted USD 13bn ISBs within “a couple of months”: analysts point out that the Governor and other leaders have regularly said that agreement is to be reached with external creditors in “a few months” since July 2022, but none of those assurances have realised: asserts that his assurances therefore now lack credibility.
- Decision said to have been reached through “mutual consensus” at meeting between SL officials and visiting IMF delegation that President’s Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor Sagala Ratnayaka will be responsible to oversee and ensure proper implementation of the financial reform process in SL.
- Urban Development Authority Deputy Director General E A C Piyashantha says the UDA had not taken any steps to expropriate the land leased out for the Krrish Project: confirms that the lease between the UDA and investors remains in force.
- Couple who have been in hiding after allegedly defrauding Rs.5 bn through Pyramid schemes arrested in Pilimathalawa by the Police Illegal Asset Investigation Division.
- Fishing trawler with 6 crew members which had left Sri Lanka from the Chilaw Dikkowita Fisheries Harbour on 12th January, abducted by Somalian pirates in the Arabian Sea area.
- Prisons Dept Media Spokesman G Dissanayaka says discussions are underway to open 2 new prisons in the Western and Southern Provinces as the number of prisoners has doubled during the past 2 years.
- Deputy Treasury Secretary R M P Rathnayake says Govt plans to give some relief to the public in relation to indirect taxes such as VAT: asserts however that the timeline for such relief would depend on the generation of revenue from direct taxes from High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNWIs).
- Medical Supplies Division Deputy Director General Dr. G Wijesuriya admits there is a shortage of cancer medicines to a certain extent: says that as of now, 28 varieties of cancer medicines have been imported and are waiting to be accepted by the MSD, but due to a delay in related documents, distribution has been suspended.
