Colombo (LNW): In a note to the Cabinet, President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies, said the Government revenue at present (January 2023) is far below the monthly expenditure for the month of January 2023.
As a result, the President noted that the General Treasury finds it challenging to meet all expenditures at this moment, except for payments for salaries, pensions, welfare, pharmaceuticals and debt servicing.
Therefore, the President pointed out that the Government expenditure will have to be curtailed further/ postponed until planned revenue to be raised on the recent tax revisions is realised.
He noted that the General Treasury will formulate a priority criterion for this purpose. Until then, the release of imprest will be curtailed. Wickremesinghe added that public officers should refrain from obtaining goods/services on credit basis, and any officer who violates this will be held personally responsible for such expenditure.
Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka recorded a deficit in the merchandise trade account narrowed to US $ 358 million in December 2022, from $1,085 million recorded in December 2021, helped by a larger decline in imports, compared to the decline in exports, Central Bank announced.
Earnings from exports in 2022 surpassed $13 billion per year for the first time, recording an increase of 4.9 per cent from the previous highest recorded in 2021.
This improvement was a result of increased earnings from industrial exports, including garments, gems, diamonds and jewellery, machinery and mechanical appliances and petroleum products.
Meanwhile, total import expenditure in 2022 amounted to $18,291 million, recording a decline of 11.4 per cent, year-on-year, resulted from measures to restrict non-urgent imports and liquidity constraints prevailed in the market for the most part of 2022.
As a result, the deficit in the trade account in 2022 narrowed to the lowest level since 2010 to US $5,185 million, from $ 8,139 million recorded in 2021.
Earnings from merchandise exports declined by 7.7 per cent in December 2022, over December 2021, to $ 1,068 million.
Expenditure on merchandise imports declined by 36.4 per cent in December 2022 to US dollars 1,426 million, compared to US dollars 2,241 million in December 2021, continuing the year-on-year declining trend observed since March 2022.
The higher base in December 2021 and declines in volumes across all major categories resulted in this outcome.
Expenditure on the importation of consumer goods declined in December 2022, compared to December 2021, mainly due to the decline in non-food consumer goods imports, driven by the reduction in the import of medical and pharmaceuticals (base effect of higher expenditure on COVID vaccines in December 2021).
In addition, almost all other non-food consumer goods declined, partly due to the measures to restrict non urgent imports. Expenditure on food and beverages also declined, driven by lower cereals and milling industry products (mainly, rice), compared to that of December 2021.
Expenditure on the importation of intermediate goods declined in December 2022, compared to a year ago, driven by lower imports of base metals (primarily, base effect of high iron and steel imports in December 2021), and textiles and textile articles (primarily, fabrics).
Expenditure on fuel, the largest import component under this category, also recorded a decline, with declines in expenditure on refined petroleum and coal, mainly due to lower volumes imported, compared to December 2021.
Colombo (LNW):The depression over the Southwest Bay of Bengal, lay centered near 8.4°N and 82.9°E, about 180km of east of Trincomalee yesterday night and it is likely to move west-Southwest ward and reach east coast of Sri Lanka on 01st February morning, the Department of Meteorology said in a statement today (01).
Cloudy sky will prevail over most parts of the island and Showers or thundershowers will occur at times, and very heavy showers about 150mm are likely at some places in Northern, North-central, North-western and Eastern provinces, the statement added.
Strong winds about (50-60) kmph can be expected at times over the Northern, North-central, Eastern, North-western and Central provinces and strong winds about (40-50) kmph can be expected elsewhere.
General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimise damages caused by temporary localised strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
Marine Weather:
The depression over the Southwest Bay of Bengal, lay centered near 8.4°N and 82.9°E, about 180km of east of Trincomalee yesterday night. It is likely to move west-Southwest ward and reach east coast of Sri Lanka on 01st February 2023 (today) morning.It is advised not to venture into fishing and naval activities in the sea areas around the Island.For Southeast Bay of Bengal and South-West Bay of Bengal:Wind speeds will be (30-50) kmph and can increase up to (60-70) kmph in sea areas between(05N – 12 N) and between (78E – 88E). Heavy showers or thundershowers and very rough or rough seas can also be expected in above sea areas. Therefore, naval and fishing communities are advised not to venture into the above-mentioned sea area till 02nd February.Fishing and naval community are requested to be attentive to future forecasts issued by the Department in this regard.
Condition of Rain:
Showers or thundershowers will occur at times in the sea areas around the Island.
Winds:
Winds will be north-easterly and wind speed will be (30-40) kmph. Wind speed may increase up to (55-60) kmph at times off the coast extending fromPottuvil to Puttalam via Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Kankasanthurai and Mannar.
State of Sea:
The sea areas will be rough and very rough at times with the swell waves (about 2.5 – 3.0 m height) off the coast extending from Pottuvil to Mannar via Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Kankasanthurai. Other sea areas around the island will be fairly rough. Temporarily strong gusty winds and very rough seas can be expected during thundershowers.
Gazette issued on conduct of LG elections on 9th March 2023: 80,720 candidates from 58 registered political parties & 329 independent groups to contest for 339 local bodies.
President Ranil Wickremasinghe says Govt revenue for January 2023 is far below the monthly expenditure estimates: laments Treasury finds it challenging to meet current expenditure, except payments for salaries, pensions, welfare, pharmaceuticals and debt servicing: instructs further curtailment of expenditure.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe instructs public officers to refrain from obtaining goods & services on credit: warns any officer who violates this order will be held personally responsible for such expenditure.
Former President Maithripala Sirisena says he will contest for the next Presidential Election: apologizes to Catholics about the Easter Sunday bomb blast.
Fr. Jude Chryshantha, National Catholic Director for Social Communication says the Catholic Church does not accept the apology of former President Maithripala Sirisena over the Easter Sunday Terror Attacks.
Police arrest couple who took photos while standing near the main podium for invited guests that is being built for the National Independence Day celebrations to be held on 4th February at Galle Face Green.
Colombo Chief Magistrate releases IUSF Convenor Wasantha Mudalige who was remanded on charges under the Prevention of Terrorism Act: says Police has misused PTA by providing statements with the intention of keeping Mudalige in prolonged remand custody.
Rate of inflation as per the CCPI falls to 54.2% in January 2023 on an YOY basis, compared to 57.2% in December 2022. Food inflation also down to 60.1% in January 2023 from 64.4% in December 2022.
SLPP MP, COPE Chairman and newly emerging SLPP Economic Guru Professor Ranjith Bandara questions how a group of people who could not even run a Local Government office can take power and rule the country.
Central Bank says earnings from exports in 2022 surpassed USD 13 bn for the first time, recording increase of 4.9% from the previous highest recorded in 2021: also says import expenditure in 2022 amounted to USD 18.3 bn, recording decline of 11.4% YOY, due to restrictions on non-urgent imports and forex liquidity constraints: reports the trade deficit narrowed to it’s lowest since 2010 to USD 5.2 bn from USD 8.1 bn in 2021.
The British Tamils Forum (BTF), on behalf of the British Tamil community and the Tamil people living around the globe, welcomes and expresses its sincere gratitude for the government of Canada’s decision to impose sanctions on the former Sri Lankan presidents Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Mahinda Rajapaksa with and including two other Sri Lankan military officials Sunil Ratnayake and the navy commander Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi for their gross and systematic violations of human rights in Sri Lanka.
The BTF also takes this opportunity to reiterate its praises the government of the United States of America for duly imposing sanctions on five Sri Lankan perpetrators for the human rights violations of war crimes, the crimes against humanity and genocide in Sri Lanka.
The foregoing decisions by two world leaders is an indication that the world at large is beginning to see the true side of the crimes continuously committed by the Sri Lankan state on Tamil people. The hegemony of the chauvinistic Sinhala-Buddhist governments have continuously been fooling the international community under the guise of democracy.
While we salute the world including the government of the United Kingdom for taking timely actions of imposing sanctions against the countries such as Russia, Belarus, Iran, etc for their human rights violations, we are concerned that the government of the United Kingdom and the European countries have not taken any positive steps hitherto for prosecuting the perpetrators of the human rights violations of war crimes, the crimes against humanity and genocide in Sri Lanka.
The urge that the UK and the European countries had in imposing sanctions against the countries like Russia, Belarus and Iran has not been applied against Sri Lanka despite the availability of the mechanism of the Universal jurisdiction.
Such dithering is upsetting while the UNHRC, Civil Societies, and other countries recognise the Sri Lankan perpetrators for their role in serious human rights violations in their reports.
We have raised several concerns through the Members of Parliaments, All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPG T), INGOs and Civil Societies with letters and meetings on this matter, it is now more than 13 years since the end of the war, the government of the United Kingdom is pacifying with promises, but there has been no action taken to date.
The human rights violations in Sri Lanka against Tamil people are still subtly continuing under the smokescreen of Sri Lanka’s current economic crisis and the future of Tamil people in their homeland is still in peril.
There have been several ways the government of the United Kingdom could have exercised its legitimate power to secure the human rights. Despite of continued outcries of the Tamil communities in the United Kingdom, the non-action of the UK government is displeasing.
By this message, we would urge the UK government to take it seriously and make righteous decision to prevail human rights and to establish justice to the Tamil victims.
In the meantime, we would reiterate the UNHRC’s September 2015 release of the list of serious Human Rights Violations as named by the OHCHR Investigation of Sri Lanka (OISL) for the UK government’s due action using the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime Act.
Colombo (LNW): The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has filed a Contempt of Court case before the Supreme Court against the Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy, the Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), and the Chairman of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) over the provision of uninterrupted electricity during the GCE A/L exam period.
The complaint submitted by the Human Rights Commission to the Supreme Court against the power and energy officials alleging that they insulted the authority of the Human Rights Commission by failing to implement the directive of the HRCSL to provide electricity continuously during the period of the A Level examination was referred today to Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya for further inquiry.
The authorities of the relevant institutions have agreed to provide continuous electricity supply from January 25 until the end of the GCE A/L examination on February 17 at a discussion held at the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission.
The HRCSL alleged that the respondents have violated the provisions of the settlement arrived at before the commission with regard to the continuous supply of power during the relevant period.
Issuing a statement, the Commission alleges that notwithstanding the settlement arrived by the above parties to provide uninterrupted electricity for the A/L students during the period of the examination, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) willfully and maliciously disregarded the settlement and continued with the power cuts.
The HRCSL notes that the Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board is guilty of the offence of contempt under the provisions of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Act No. 21 of 1996.
“The Commission treats the said blatant disregard of the CEB to provide an uninterrupted electricity supply during the examination period is a gross violation of a child’s right to education,” the statement said adding that the settlement was to prevent the power cut only during the period of the A/L examination.
The HRCSL alleges that the CEB disregarded the assurance and proceeded with the power cuts despite having admitted before the Commission that there are meaningful ways to provide electricity, and settling on that basis.
The Commission said the unbecoming and outrageous behavior of the State Officials of the CEB as an intentional affront to justice and contempt of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka.
“In this backdrop, the certificate of contempt has been duly signed by the Commission and forwarded to the Supreme Court and a case of Contempt of Court has been filed before the Supreme Court in this regard which will be taken up in the due course and relevant parties will be heard with the main view of providing a relief to the A/L candidates.”
The Commission reiterates the position that the sole purpose of this intervention is only to ensure the rights of Citizens and in particular that of the A/L Candidates are duly honored and the Commission assures its continuous efforts in upholding the rule of law of the country and Fundamental Rights of its citizens.
The Commission said it will closely observe the developments in this regard.
Colombo (LNW): Wasantha Mudalige, Convener of the Inter-University Students’ Federation (IUSF), whose charges based on the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) were dropped by the Colombo Magistrate Court earlier today (31), has been taken back to prison, correspondents claim.
The charges against Mudalige based on ‘unsubstantial’ evidence were dropped by Colombo Chief Magistrate Prasanna Alwis.
Dhaka: The International Monetary Fund has signed off on a $4.7 billion support loan package for Bangladesh to help it cope with soaring energy and food costs that have sparked huge protests.
Bangladesh and other South Asian countries dependent on fossil fuel imports were hit hard by sharp cost-of-living increases following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Nationwide blackouts of up to 13 hours a day hit the electricity grid last year and the government extended food relief for households unable to afford rice and other staples.
The IMF package makes $476 million immediately available to the government but commits it to tax hikes and bringing down the number of bad loans in the banking sector.
“Multiple shocks have made macroeconomic management challenging in Bangladesh,” the lender’s active chair Antoinette Sayeh said in a statement released on Tuesday.
“Authorities need to accelerate their ambitious reform agenda to achieve a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable growth,” she said.
Bangladesh plans to use the IMF loan to prop up its foreign exchange reserves, which have nosedived from $46 billion to $34 billion.
The local currency has depreciated around 25 percent against the US dollar since last May, driving up costs for petrol distributors and power utilities that have rippled across the rest of the economy.
Bangladesh’s official inflation rate is around 8.7% but independent economists say the true figure is substantially higher.
The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party has blamed the government for the crisis, accusing it of squandering cash on multibillion-dollar vanity projects.
It has organised a series of rallies demanding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation and a general election.
Bangladesh is one of several South Asian countries seeking international help in navigating economic shocks over the past year.
Pakistan is in the grips of a major crisis and facing the prospect of looming national bankruptcy, with an IMF delegation visiting Tuesday to discuss a vital cash injection.
Sri Lanka is still waiting to finalise its own bailout with the lender after an unprecedented meltdown last year that saw months of major food and fuel shortages.
Sri Lanka’s merchandise exports in 2022 posted US $ 13.07 billion, up by 5% from 2021 sustaining its resilience, but fell short $ 1.03 billion from the set target of $16 billion.
Export Development Board forecasted a total exports target $ 16.1 billion for 2022, consisting $ 14.94 billion from merchandise exports and $ 2 billion from service exports. The highest performance of total exports was $ 15.91 billion in 2018.
As per provisional data released by EDB yesterday, merchandise exports have sustained the growth momentum in the 12-month haul up by 4.6% from 2021, though the estimated value of services exports of last year decreased by 6% to $ 1.87 billion.
The services exports estimated by EDB consist of ICT/BPM, construction, financial services and transport and logistics.
Expect apparel and textiles, electrical and electronic components and diamonds, gems and jewellery, and all the other key export sectors like tea, rubber, coconut, seafood, and spices underperformed in 2022.
“EDB Chairman Suresh de Mel said that the forecast of $ 16.1 billion in 2022 was challenging, amidst the recovery of global demand post-COVID, which required not only strong efforts from local enterprises amidst long power outages, fuel shortages, political instability, social unrest, and professionals in the service sector leaving for greener pastures.
Although the expected targets for 2022 were not possible to achieve, EDB Chief said as a country everyone should be extremely proud and supportive of the export sector’s immense contribution to the national economy at the worst times.
As per data December export figures also fell by 9.7% to $ 1.04 billion from 2021 mainly due to the decrease in export earnings from apparel and textiles, tea, rubber-based products, coconut-based products, food and beverages, spices and essential oils and fisheries products. However, the month sustained over $ 1 billion in performance.
It added the decline was due to the also the recovery of global demand, ongoing recession in major markets due to the rising cost of production, energy and predictions of a contracting economy going forward.
Apparel and textile export earnings increased by 10% to $ 5.9 billion in 2022 from a year earlier. Although export earnings from apparel increased by 10.74% to $ 5.48 billion year-on-year, earnings from textile exports declined by 3% to $ 450.7 million in 2022 compared to 2021.
Electrical and Electronic Components (EEC) export income increased by 14.68% to $ 483.28 million in the period of January to December 2022 compared to the corresponding period of 2021.
However, export earnings from seafood decreased by 1.81% to $ 269.02 million in the period from January to December 2022 from a year earlier.
The Ministry of Tourism is taking measures to re-enter the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) market as the country opens for tourism amid an economic crisis in the aftermath of Coronavirus pandemic.
TheSri Lanka Convention Bureau (SLCB) and SriLankan Airlines (SLA), together in partnership, under the aegis of the Ministry of Tourism, recently announced the official launch of “MICE – EXPO 2023.
The event, which is a MICE trade show for promoting Sri Lanka as the perfect destination for Meetings, Incentive Travels, Conferences, and Exhibitions/Business Events (MICE), is set to take place from the 13th to the 15th of March 2023, at the Shangri La Colombo.
MICE – EXPO 2023 will host over 100 participants from South East Asia, the Middle East and Europe, attracting some of the largest travel agencies and groups in the industry.
Majority of the buyers are confirmed from India, one of the leading MICE outbound markets, where Sri Lankan Airlines operate more than 75 flights per week.
Most of the hosted buyers will be flown by the National Carrier, Sri Lankan Airline. The Expo aims to promote Sri Lanka as Business event destination, in an effort to grow tourism revenues and increase foreign currency inflows into Sri Lanka.
The aim is to leverage the high-quality MICE traveller segment who, on average, spend up to 3 times more than leisure and other tourist segments.
Commenting on this milestone initiative,Tourism minister Harin Fernando, said that promoting Sri Lanka as a Business event destination, MICE – EXPO 2023 also aims to provide a platform for local partners as sponsor exhibitors, and we invite all interested parties.
The organizers also intend to use MICE – EXPO 2023 as a platform to create awareness, in general, about the value that Sri Lanka has to offer the world, for MICE, tourism, investment and other purposes.
Sri Lanka is a destination that offers the perfect blend of natural beauty, culture, and history, making it an ideal location for events and conferences, leisure and growth investments.
The island is home to world-class infrastructure and facilities, including state-of-the-art convention centres, hotels, and resorts, with much planned for the future, including mega developments such as Port City Colombo, which will be a global MICE, financial services, commercial, entertainment, leisure and investment hub for the entire South Asian Region.
SLCB also announced their future plans for MICE – EXPO which include taking the event regional around Sri Lanka, specifically to Jaffna, and making it an annual event, to create further ongoing positive impacts for the country.
