Colombo (LNW): The registration fees charged at the Foreign Employment Bureau from those travelling overseas for employment have increased, effective from July 01, 2023.
Every Sri Lankan leaving the country for overseas employment should be registered with the Bureau as a mandatory requirement, and foreign employment agency licence renewal fees have also been increased.
Colombo (LNW): Showers will occur at times in Sabaragamuwa province and in Galle and Matara districts, and several spells of showers will occur in Western and North-western provinces and in Kandy and Nuwara Eliya districts, announced the Department of Meteorology in its daily weather forecast today (30).
Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in Uva province and in Ampara and Batticaloa districts during the evening or night, the statement added.
Fairly strong winds about (40-45) kmph can be expected at times in Western slopes of the central hills, Northern and North-central provinces and in Puttalam, Hambantota and Trincomalee districts.
General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimise damages caused by temporary localised strong winds and lightning during thundershowers
Marine Weather:
Condition of Rain:
Showers or thundershowers will occur at several places in the sea areas off the coast extending from Puttalam to Matara via Colombo and Galle.
Winds:
Winds will be south-westerly and speed will be (30-40) kmph. Wind speed may increase up to (50-55) kmph at times in the sea areas off the coast extending from Hambantota to Pottuvil and sea areas off the coast extending from Trincomalee to Puttalam via Kankasanthurai and Mannar.
State of Sea:
The sea areas off the coast extending from Hambantota to Pottuvil and sea areas off the coast extending from Trincomalee to Puttalam via Kankasanthurai and Mannar will be rough at times. The sea areas off the coast extending Puttalam to Hambantota via Colombo and Galle will be moderate. Temporarily strong gusty winds and very rough seas can be expected during thundershowers.
Colombo (LNW): Eran Wickramaratne M.P. said that it is ridiculous that Rajapaksa followers are going against their own government and standing up for the people who are protesting against the government, for being omitted from the new welfare benefit scheme Äsvasuma.
Mr. Wickramaratna, who addressed the press conference at the opposition leader’s office in Colombo on Wednesday, said that the Rajapaksa rule bankrupted the country during its tenure with their ignorance in policy and governance, has resulted in the number of poor people in the country, approx. 4 million in 2019, to now exceed 7 million. Further commenting, Mr. Wickramaratne said that the poor had become poorer when Janasaviya, meant to eradicate poverty, was turned into a project that would sow votes for them.
Government MPs who gained power by selling poverty through the Samurdhi scheme are now using various tactics to get closer to the people – they brag about coming to power again. Mr. Wickramaratna said that the people will never forget the destruction caused to the country by Rajapaksa’s. For the first time in the history of Sri Lanka, coconuts were sold by measuring the girth and eggs were sold by weight – by the Rajapaksa government.
A key failure of Samurdhi was the selection process. The opposition’s standpoint is that a selection process must not be involved and that a scientific approach must be adopted. A selection process by default is politicised and the absence of a ‘selection process’ results in 80% of the job-done. A scientific approach and one that is being proposed by the opposition is assessment based on electricity consumption devoid of manual intervention.
The government says that Aswasuma will be given to 2 million people, but, it is yet to be known how this will be achieved.
“Samagi Jana Balawegaya is ready for any election – the government could hold any election, if the country is on the path of development as the government claims” he said.
Eran Wickramaratne emphasised that Rajapaksas who bankrupted the county are now giving direction on how best to move the country forward and that it is clear that those speaking against people being deprived of Samurdhi benefits, are pursuing their own agenda for power.
Colombo (LNW): Textile exports from the island nation by 5.9 per cent year-on-year to US $88.9 million during the first quarter of 2023 amidst economic crisis and other internal challenges.
The exports of other made-up textile articles stood at $26.1 million during the same period, down 19.6 per cent, according to the central bank’s ‘External Sector Performance’ report.
Textiles, garment, and other made-up textile articles’ exports together accounted for 53.62 per cent of all industrial exports from Sri Lanka during the period under review, the report showed.
The exports of all textile products totalled $1,273 million in January-March 2023, while Sri Lanka’s total industrial exports stood at $2,374.7 million in the first quarter of the current year.
In March 2023, all textile products exports from the nation declined by 10.2 per cent year-on-year to reach $417.2 million.
Category-wise, garment exports decreased by 10.7 per cent to $379.5 million, while textile exports eased 0.3 per cent to $28.5 million. The exports of other made-up textile articles were down by 15.6 per cent to $9.3 million.
On the other hand, imports of textiles and textile articles eased 31.3 per cent to $604.6 million, while clothing and accessories imports were down by 36.6 per cent to $45.7 million during January-March 2023.
Economic expert and SJP MP Harsha de Silva highlighting the challenges faced by Sri Lanka’s textile and apparel export sector emphasised the crucial role the textile and apparel industry played during the economic crisis, lending crucial support to keep the country afloat and providing employment opportunities to hundreds of thousands of people.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a decrease in global demand for clothing, resulting in domestic wardrobe inventory build-up.
This reduction in demand has affected the textile industry, particularly as big brands, anticipating a post-COVID surge, now face inventory build-up in their warehouses.
As a consequence of the challenging market conditions, several factories have closed down, and others have been forced to place their workers on furlough.
The competitive landscape in the textile industry has intensified as brands dictate cheaper prices, turning it into an auction-like scenario among countries in the region.
De Silva stressed the importance of protecting the vital textile industry, as the problem is expected to persist for another 6-12 months.
He urged the government to take immediate action, including a reevaluation and amendment of the 30 percent taxes on exports to alleviate the financial burden faced by exporters.
De Silva highlighted the significant increase in spending power among Indians, particularly in states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala.
He called for measures to attract India’s growing middle class and suggested renegotiating the existing Free Trade Agreement to remove barriers that restrict exports above $8 million.
With corporations and foreign direct investments moving out of China and relocating to countries like Vietnam, Singapore, and India, De Silva urged the government to establish mechanisms similar to India to attract these investments.
Colombo (LNW): The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has announced the settlement of accumulated arrears of approximately Rs. 4 billion due for our Rooftop Solar customers. Accordingly all due arrears up to April 2023 has now been settled.
During 2022, CEB was unable to settle the payment for Rooftop Solar customers in total due to severe financial difficulties faced by CEB mainly due to non availability of a cost reflective tariff.
However, with the implementation of cost reflective tariff on 15th February 2023, CEB managed to commence settlement of monthly bills from internal cash generation and accumulated arrears by raising loans from financial institutions despite the fact that settlement of previous debt is not included in the tariff. CEB has managed to settle all due arrears up to April 2023.
Electricity customers of Sri Lanka has installed about 700 MW of Rooftop Solar energy systems which is sizable compared with day peak of the country is only 2700 MW including Rooftop solar. Roofsolar has contributed immensely to increase the renewable energy share of the country.
CEB always promotes Rooftop Solar systems through their innovative Business Models of Net Metering, Net Accounting, Net Plus and Net Plus Plus.
Colombo (LNW): The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) the main Opposition in Parliament said it will be voting against the government’s proposed domestic debt restructuring programme.
This was confirmed by Party Secretary General MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara.
Colombo (LNW): The validity period of temporary driving licences has been extended to two years, via the issuance of a special gazette declaration under the signature of Transport Minister Bandula Gunawardena.
Accordingly, from March 31 to June 30, 2023, the expiry date of every driver’s licence, regardless of the date mentioned, will be considered valid for a period of two years.
The move will come into effect from July 01, 2023.
Collaboration to embed Visa payments onto SAP’s ecosystem of solutions for enterprises to pay suppliers seamlessly, even if they do not accept card payments
Singapore, 28 June 2023 – Visa today announced it has entered into a collaboration with SAP to streamline and simplify business-to-business (B2B) payments for enterprises, from businesses small to big, to government agencies and non-profit organisations. The collaboration, led out of Asia Pacific, marks the first time Visa, the world’s leading company in digital payments, and SAP, one of the world’s market leaders in enterprise application software, join forces to bring to life an innovation to embed payments into the SAP ecosystem through SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP).
Around 99 per cent of the world’s largest companies are SAP customers. This collaboration sets the stage for Visa and SAP to explore embedded finance in the B2B market, helping integrate a financial journey into business operations. Visa estimates that opportunities to digitise B2B payment flows today represent more than $50 trillion across Asia Pacific.
For Visa, the move is in line with its strategy to increase its footprint in the B2B space, supporting broader money movement flows between individuals, businesses and governments, beyond consumer payments. This includes accounts receivable and payable flows, corporate payments with card-based solutions and cross-border payments.
“The movement of money is becoming increasingly digital, but the bulk of transformation has been focused on the consumer space,” Stephen Karpin, Regional President of Asia Pacific, Visa, said. “There is an urgent need to modernise the way enterprises pay and enhance the B2B payment experience. Our collaboration with SAP is an exciting step in making B2B payments simpler and more intuitive as organisations can make payments immediately on SAP platforms with their Visa corporate cards, instead of having to leave their existing enterprise ecosystem and to navigate the different payment methods that their vendors accept. B2B payments needs to be intuitive, speedy and fuss-free, so organisations can spend time and resources on other aspects of their businesses.”
For SAP, this move is meant to enhance its customers’ experience in using SAP’s software to run their businesses. Running on SAP BTP, the B2B payment services will offer convenient Visa payment services to SAP customers. Injecting more automation into payments – which marks the last mile of procurement – will help enterprises drive further efficiency in their purchasing journey as they make payments securely within a few clicks.
“Our collaboration with Visa endeavours to streamline and simplify the B2B payment process and drive further efficiencies for our joint customers. Embedding Visa payment into the SAP ecosystem aims to scale and accelerate digital commerce; together empowering enterprises, from small businesses to government agencies and non-profit organisations, to make secure payments with just a few clicks, transforming the last mile of procurement,” said Paul Marriott, President of SAP Asia Pacific Japan.
The embedded finance solution will be offered initially to SAP customers in Australia, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, with plans to roll out across other markets in the region.
Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) is an innovation platform optimised for SAP applications in the cloud that brings together application development and automation, data and analytics, integration, and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities into one unified environment. Through this new collaboration, Visa and SAP will help bridge working capital gaps in the supply chain. Under its suite of Commercial & Money Movement Solutions, Visa will deliver capabilities through SAP BTP to route commercial payments to all suppliers, whether they accept card payments or not. This solution will help businesses who are Visa cardholders make payments seamlessly and utilise their cardholder benefits, be it domestically or cross-border.
The collaboration will also help to further digitise and speed up B2B payments across Asia Pacific’s supply chains. Many businesses in Asia Pacific, especially smaller ones that tend to lack the resources to digitalise B2B payment acceptance, do not yet accept commercial card payments. It can be challenging for card-enabled businesses to pay digitally as they resort to traditional, manual and time-consuming payment methods such as cash and cheques. It also affects the cash flow for both payers and suppliers as transactions via traditional payment methods tend to take a longer time to process and complete.
The public panic created by the 5-day banking holiday (29th June to 3rd July) announced by the CB Governor in the night of 25th June is now not a secret. The purpose of the banking holiday was stated as required to keep the banking and markets stable to facilitate the proposed domestic debt restructuring/optimization approval process of the Parliament.
Whenever there are panic-driven transactions and tremors in the banking sector, banks face stress liquidity conditions or liquidity crunches. Five sources that banks resort to raise the liquidity or funds during normal times are as follows.
Use of excess cash available at hand
Borrow from the inter-bank market
Sell investments in government securities in the secondary market
Borrow from the overnight standing lending facility of the Central Bank
Borrow from the reverse repo auctions if announced by the Central Bank
What happened during the last three days 26-28 June
The limited data published by the CB shows early warnings of a liquidity crunch that may pull a trigger of a systemic risk unless relevant authorities resolve financial problems presently confronted by banks consequent to foreign currency and debt crisis and severe macroeconomic contraction caused by the monetary policy.
Out of above five sources, data show the heavy use of sources other than the sale of government securities. The inactivity in the government securities market due to domestic debt restructuring pending and the mark-to-market losses on investments in government securities due to sugar high interest rate policy of the Central Bank are the major reasons for not using the source of the sale of government securities.
The use of other four sources is highlighted below.
Use of excess cash
Banks generally deposit their excess cash overnight at the CB at interest rate of 13% at present. However, banks have cut such deposits and used excess cash for liquidity purposes. Accordingly, the volume of such deposits immediately declined to Rs. 15 mn on 26th and 32 bn on 27th as compared to Rs. 182 bn on the previous day. However, such deposits have risen back to Rs. 218.6 bn on 28th as a part of investment because banks can earn interest of 13% on these deposits during the special 5-day bank holiday without any risk.
Borrow from the inter-bank market
Inter-bank borrowing rose to Rs. 7.8 bn on 26th from Rs. 5.9 bn previous day. However, such borrowing declined to Rs. 5.1 bn on 27th and zero on 28th. Lower or zero inter-bank lending could be a result of banks not lending to other banks due to confidence problems generally seen during bank problem times.
Borrow from the CB’s overnight standing lending facility
As this facility is subject to a cap of 90% of bank statutory reserve requirement, banks are not free to access the facility. At present. these loans are given at a rate of interest of 14% with government securities taken as collateral.
Accordingly, the use of this facility was Rs. 128.6 bn on 26th, Rs. 117.3 bn on 27th and Rs. 218.6 bn on 28th. The low volume is due to the cap.
Borrow from the reverse repo auctions announced by the CB
The general policy of the CB is to announce reverse repo auctions to banks as and when the CB finds shortages of banking sector liquidity. Reverve repo lending is granted against collateral of government securities and can be for overnight or for several days (term reverse repo).
The CB has offered one overnight auction and one short-term auction each day, 26th, 27th and 28th, for a total of Rs. 310 bn and Rs. 180 bn, respectively. Accordingly, the CB has lent Rs. 205.25 bn and Rs. 119.7 bn, respectively, with a total of Rs. 324.95 bn.
A summary of these auctions is as follows.
Highlights on the summary are as follows.
Expecting liquidity stresses, the CB has announced auctions of more supply than demand. The total supply was Rs. 490 bn as compared to the total demand of Rs. 464.5 bn.
The volume auctioned has risen daily as the CB expected rising liquidity tremors among banks.
In four auctions, the weighted average yield was lower than the standing lending facility rate of 14%. Therefore, banks were better-off at a loss to the public funds. Banks who got minimum yields in the range of 13.35%-13.55% had more favourable deals. The loss to public funds on these reverse repo lending was 0.16%-0.33%.
Funds in two 7-day auctions were provided at an interest of 14% which is same as overnight lending facility rate whereas bids accepted from each auction are seen as facilitation of one bank (as all three yields are same). 7-day lending at the same rate of overnight lending at a time of liquidity shortages is a major concern over the negligence of the management of public funds.
Direct borrowing of Rs. 360.7 bn from the CB on 26th against the sale of Treasury bills/bonds.
In addition to above sources, the CB has implemented LOLR facility too. The CB’s holding of Treasury bills/bonds has risen to Rs. 2,817,071 mn on 26th. This is a record increase of Rs. 360,734 mn from the holding on last Friday. In the past, the reason for the increase/decrease in this holding has been the CB’s lending to the government through direct purchase of Treasury bills. However, the CB has not made any specific direct issuance of Treasury bills to itself on 26th.
Therefore, it appears that the CB has provided LOLR funds to some banks upon the discount or outright purchase or swap of Treasury bills and bonds. This has become necessary as the CB has imposed a cap on overnight standing lending facility. As the interest rate charged or the type of lending are not revealed or transparent, the loss to the public funds on this colossal transaction cannot be traced.
Concluding Remarks
Information highlighted above shows the adverse impact felt by banks on their liquidity conditions consequent to the unjustifiable bank holiday of strait 5 days announced abruptly by the CB’s Governor on 25th June midnight.
According to the PowerPoint presentation made by the CB Governor to the Cabinet of Ministers on 28th June, the banking sector is in a vulnerable financial condition as seen from some highlights of the presentations as follows (see the slides at the end of the article). This is a complete U turn of the CB’s recent assurance that the banking sector is safe and sound in terms of the liquidity and capital of the banking system. Further. the CB Governor assured in his press statement that deposits were safer and unaffected by the debt restructuring.
Banking sector has already borne a significant burden of the fiscal adjustment and the economic crisis in several ways (Slide 22).
Banking sector is already facing significant stress amidst the economic crisis.. Banking sector nonperforming loans have increased substantially, there is already a need for high provisioning and capital enhancement, these would affect banking sector performance and profitability (Slide 23).
Foreign currency debt restructuring will result in a notable impact on the banking sector (Slide 24).
Amidst this bank vulnerability of systemic nature, the CB Governor’s abrupt press statement on 5-day bank holiday has further added to the vulnerability through a public panic over the safety of their deposits as seen form the distress liquidity shown above. The rationale for the panic is well established from the CB Governor’s presentation itself.
The CB Governor or his team or other state authorities or their supporters have no knowledge of the interconnectedness and inter-dependence of the government, banks, financial institutions, markets, businesses, households and individuals through debt/credit in a chained manner. There is enough evidence that the chain is broken at several points such as default of government debt and non-performance of bank loans.
As the Cabinet of Ministers and members of the Parliament have now been officially informed of the banking sector vulnerability, they have to act promptly to correct the situation before being too late for the risk of contagion of the present foreign currency and debt crisis to the domestic currency crisis, given the fact that the monetary and financial system are built on public debt and banking sector.
(This article is released in the interest of participating in the professional dialogue to find out solutions to present economic crisis confronted by the general public consequent to the global Corona pandemic, subsequent economic disruptions and shocks both local and global and policy failures.)
P Samarasiri
Former Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka
(Former Director of Bank Supervision, Assistant Governor, Secretary to the Monetary Board and Compliance Officer of the Central Bank, Former Chairman of the Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards Board and Credit Information Bureau, Former Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka, Former Member of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Insurance Regulatory Commission and the Author of 10 Economics and Banking Books and a large number of articles published.
The author holds BA Hons in Economics from University of Colombo, MA in Economics from University of Kansas, USA, and international training exposures in economic management and financial system regulation)
