By: Staff Writer

Colombo (LNW): France has stepped into assist Sri Lanka in its efforts to tackle rising malnutrition among children.

This health issue has become a forefront policy concern in Sri Lanka amidst heightened food insecurity of households caused by the host of economic and social issues that exacerbated during the economic crisis in 2022, Central Bank revealed.

A survey conducted by the Family Health Bureau of the Ministry of Health has revealed that 15763 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition have been identified across the country this year.

France has contributed Euros 500,000 through UNICEF to support Sri Lanka’s efforts to prevent and treat malnutrition among children in the country.

The contribution enables UNICEF, working in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, to provide children under two years of age with the required nutrition services. Parents and caregivers will also be educated on the correct practices to prevent and treat acute malnutrition and ensure the healthy growth and development of their children.

Malnutrition, if not urgently treated, can kill or damage a child’s physical and cognitive development, especially during the first two years of a child’s life, but often also negatively affect opportunities for the rest of their lives.

Hardships brought about by Sri Lanka’s economic situation continue to stalk families, especially the poor and most vulnerable households. Access to a regular and adequate nutritious diet remains out of reach for many young children and their families, putting them at risk of malnutrition.

This contribution enables UNICEF and its partners to among others, to treat 1,500 children who suffer from severe acute malnutrition through provision of therapeutic food.

To provide 120,000 children between 6-23 months with micronutrients to address deficiencies and prevent malnutrition.

To reach 200,000 parents/caretakers with accurate information on proper practices to prevent and treat malnutrition among their children.

“Contributions such as this from France boost our joint efforts to scale up our ongoing response to children in urgent need of treatment for malnutrition as well as help undertake prevention measures”, said Christian Skoog, UNICEF Sri Lanka Representative.

, UNICEF has remained agile in its work to address the needs of children in Sri Lanka and ensuring that the most vulnerable and their families are cushioned from the worst effects of poverty, COVID-19 and now the economic difficulties.

“The Government of France has a long-standing partnership with Sri Lanka and this contribution through UNICEF is just one demonstration of our shared vision for children and the people of Sri Lanka”, said Jean-François PACTET, Ambassador of France to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

By: Staff Writer

Colombo (LNW): The Government is now implementing ‘Aswesuma’ compensation) program aims to strengthen the social safety nets (SSN) to help cushion the impact of the economic crisis on the poor and vulnerable amidst the widespread public protest against the selection criteria.

The IMF staff team now in Sri Lanka will asses the progress of this IMF approved reform program which is accompanied by stronger social safety nets  

The far reaching social welfare program initiated by the president heeding the condition of the International Monetary Fund for the eligibility of Extended Fund Facility of US$3 billion was stipulated to come into effect from May2023.

The Sri Lanka’s new SSN program has been launched in July 01 2023 missing the IMF ded line of May suffered from poor adequacy, coverage, and targeting.

The program has set a floor on SSN spending of Rs 187 billion in 2023 (0.6 percent of GDP, indicative target), finance ministry claimed

Minister of State for Finance, Shehan Semasinghe, said that among the 2 million Aswesuma beneficiary families, phased payments have commenced for 1.5 million families.

 In the first phase, a total of Rs. 4.395 billion have been successfully transferred to the bank accounts of 689,803 beneficiaries.

Approximately 100,000 families are engaged in protests demanding payments as their names were not included in the eligible recipients list. In light of these considerations, a collective total of 2 million beneficiary families are selected for relief.

Highlighting that around Rs. 15 billion is earmarked for assisting the 1.5 million shortlisted beneficiary families, the State Minister emphasized the prompt release of necessary funds for their support.

State Minister Semasinghe further said;“The government has initiated the disbursement of funds for the initial group entitled to benefits.

Minister Semasinghe underlined that if Aswesuma benefits were acquired through fraudulent means, legal action would be initiated against such persons and in such cases, efforts to reclaim the disbursed funds will not be hesitated upon.

This program was aimed to allow the major four SSN programs (Samurdhi cash transfers and support for elderly, disabled, and chronic kidney disease) to mitigate inflation eroding per household benefits.

In parallel, the authorities will have to implement broader institutional reforms to improve efficiency, coverage, and targeting of the SSN to fulfill the IMF commitment.

The authorities have made the Welfare Benefits Board (WBB) operational as the legal entity responsible for coordinating all SSN programs and reforms.

They have also populated a new Social Registry, an electronic database of SSN beneficiaries, and obtained parliamentary approval of the new eligibility criteria for selecting beneficiaries for SSN program.

The eligibility criteria, developed with support from the World Bank, are based on objective and verifiable characteristics of households. Parliamentary approval of the welfare benefit payment scheme and application of the new eligibility criteria were expected by May.

By: Staff Writer

Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka is undergoing the international monitory fund prescribed economic reform program to rescue the country’s almost dying economy fulfilling  38 commitments made to gain US $2.9 billion extended fund facility under the first IMF policy review.

 Sri Lanka verifiably met 38 of the 57 trackable commitments that were due for completion by end-August in its 17th programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to the latest progress update by Verité Research.

The end-August update on the programme by ‘IMF Tracker’, an online platform by Verité Research, shows that the progress on 11 commitments remains “unknown”, while eight are now classified as “not met”.

IMF staff team now in Sri Lanka is reviewing the progress on the programme which kicked off in March 2023 and approve the second disbursement – which is now expected to be delayed till at least the end of October.

The IMF review is to focus on commitments that were due by the end of June. Even with that large latitude, Sri Lanka is falling short on an important governance-linked commitment.

That is, the establishment of an online fiscal transparency platform. This was due by end-March but is yet to be delivered.

This platform was expected to publish semi-annually three types of information: (1) all significant public procurement contracts, (2) a list of all firms receiving tax exemptions through the Board of Investment, and (3) a list of individuals and firms receiving tax exemptions on luxury vehicle imports.

Such a platform can shed light on government actions and curtail the abuse of power to confer private advantage, at the cost of public revenue.

This is also the first Sri Lanka programme in which the IMF has identified governance and corruption issues as being critical for macro-economic recovery and stability in Sri Lanka. The fiscal transparency platform gains added importance in that light.

The IMF has a track record of overlooking failures to meet commitments, especially when they occur due to circumstances that might be outside the control of government.

This act of omission, however, is one that is well within the government’s control. Overlooking it can make the IMF appear to not be giving due weight to its own evaluation about the importance of governance related commitments – and encourage further slippage in future actions related to improving governance in Sri Lanka.

However “IMF welcomes the authorities’ ongoing efforts in meeting key commitments under the Fund-supported program.

Performance under the program will be formally assessed in the context of the first review of the Extended Fund Facility arrangement, which is nowtaking place sources said.

It is yet to be submitted  the Public Financial Management (PFM) Law to Parliament for approval and the full revision of the Banking Act approval during Q3 and Q4 -2023.

By: Staff Writer

Colombo (LNW): The British Foreign Office announced that a large number of foreign embassies in London, including the Sri Lankan High Commission, owe the country millions of pounds in unpaid congestion charges.

Parliamentary Under-secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) David Rutley in a written reply to UK Parliament said that the overall amount of the debt now totals more than £145 million.

Accordingly, the Sri Lankan High Commission in London owes an amount of £652,120 as a total outstanding.

However, according to Under-secretary Rutley, there are no legal grounds to exempt diplomatic missions and international organisations from the London Congestion Charge, which is comparable to a parking fee or toll charge they are required to pay.

“Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, diplomats have an obligation to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving State.

The British Government therefore expects all diplomatic missions to respect UK laws and regulations, which includes payment of the Congestion Charge,” he stated.

Among the other countries are the US, Japan, Poland, France and Germany. The London congestion charge is a fee charged on most cars and motor vehicles being driven within the Congestion Charge Zone in Central London between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday to Friday and between 12 noon and 6 p.m. on weekends.

Sri Lanka’s expenses on foreign missions has seen a natural increase over the years, with over 50% of those expenses being towards personal emoluments of staff serving in foreign missions.

 These personal emoluments include salaries and wages, overtime and holiday payments, and other allowances for mission staff.

The value of unpaid Congestion Charge debt incurred by diplomatic missions and international organisations in London since its introduction in February 2003 until 31 December 2022 as advised by Transport for London (TfL) was £145.41 million.

1. Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa calls on private lenders & super-rich to bear their share of the burden in domestic debt optimization: criticizes the Govt’s approach as disastrous: accuses the Govt for sparing these affluent groups from the debt restructuring burden, leaving it solely on the working class.
   
2. Airport and Aviation Services says restrictions on imported items and the high cost have decreased cargo movement at airports by 15% in the first 8 months of 2023.
   
3. Acute shortage felt in the case of Consultant Anaesthetists for surgical operations and other procedures in state sector hospitals.
   
4. International Trade Office Chief Negotiator K J Weerasinghe admits SL is yet to set dates for its next round of trade talks with China and India: China and India accounted for about USD 9bn each in bilateral trade in 2022.
   
5. Fishermen in Rameswaram, India go on a strike & demand the release of 8 Rameswaram fishers arrested by SL authorities: around 800 fishing vessels remain moored at the jetty: previously, the SL Navy had detained 17 fishermen from Rameswaram & Pudukkottai for poaching in the SL waters.
   
6. Researchers raise concerns about the practicality of the Cabinet approved Beira Lake nano-technology neutralisation project: as per the Cabinet decision, the move is meant to improve the quality of water in the Beira Lake using micro nano-bubble & carbon fibre biofilm technology, and environment-friendly enzymes.
   
7. Colombo’s Lotus Tower celebrates 1 year with a total of 120,174 local & 200,223 foreign visitors: Head of Management Prasad Samarasinghe says the revenue earned through the visitors was more than Rs.550mn and that Rs.100mn has been paid to the TRC as the initial lease payment.
   
8. SLPP rebel MP Dr Nalaka Godahewa exposes the harsh realities of economic challenges in 2023: says it’s abundantly clear that the aspiration of building a thriving export-oriented economy under the current Govt is nothing but a pipe dream.
   
9. Cooperative Wholesale Establishment (Sathosa) to send home all it’s employees totalling about 300 on compulsory retirement from 30Sept’23 as part of its restructuring programme: action based on a Cabinet decision.
   
10. Asia Cricket Cup Final today between India and Sri Lanka: analysts say Sri Lanka possesses the ability to defeat India, because they very nearly did so last week.