Sri Lanka is deeply concerned over the recent escalation of violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including the incidents at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the holy month of Ramadan. 

Sri Lanka calls on all parties concerned to exercise restraint, maintain calm and take sustained measures to address the worsening humanitarian situation.

Sri Lanka reaffirms its unwavering support for the right of the Palestinian people to statehood in accordance with the provisions of the UN Charter and the relevant UN resolutions.  Sri Lanka remains committed to supporting a negotiated settlement in line with internationally agreed parameters of two states living side by side on the basis of the 1967 borders, which is key to achieving long term security, peace and prosperity.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Colombo

Growing uncertainty about the dollar’s dominance in global markets is largely misguided, and it’s unlikely alternative currencies can take over, venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya said.

“This whole thing is a huge nothingburger,” the so-called SPAC King said on a Friday episode of the All-In Podcast. 

Speculation that the dollar is a waning has grown as Western sanctions cut off Russia from its foreign currency reserves after Moscow’s forces invaded Ukraine last year.

That spurred other countries to rethink their reliance on the US currency. In the past two months, the yuan surpassed the dollar as the most traded currency in Russia, while China also signed an agreement with Brazil to use renminbi for cross-border transactions. Beijing has also pushed the yuan as currency to settle oil deals as well. 

But news like that is not enough to signal the end of the dollar’s role, especially as the yuan is still linked to the greenback to some extent, Palihapitiya said.

The yuan isn’t strictly pegged to the dollar. Rather, it trades in a 2% range around a midpoint against the greenback, fixed daily by the People’s Bank of China. 

And although the PBOC usually aims to maintain a rate of 7 yuan per dollar, the tight control gives China some leeway to pull the yuan’s level into desired directions, if need be.

“Until [the yuan] is unpacked in a free floating currency, we will never know what the real market clearing price is,” Palihapitiya said. “China has been very effectively able to manipulate this currency since they were brought into the WTO, in order to engender that trading partner status.”

He later added that, in moments of financial crises, the dollar will remain the “canonical” flight to safety, outside of commodities such as gold.

Similar to Palihapitiya’s take, a Carson Group note from last week outlined that the US dollar would remain the central currency as there was no other good alternative.

Not only that, but trust in the dollar has a historic backing, as the US is a top international trading partner that would be difficult to dislodge while the market for US Treasurys remains attractive.

businessinsider

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Sri Lanka amidst its ongoing economic crisis. The announcement was made by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva during a meeting with the Sri Lankan delegation, led by Finance State Minister Shehan Semasinghe, at the Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group in Washington DC.

Georgieva assured the delegation that the IMF is dedicated to helping Sri Lanka during this difficult time and emphasized the importance of collective effort to overcome the crisis. In response, Semasinghe expressed gratitude on behalf of the Sri Lankan government and its people for the leadership provided by the IMF in supporting the country’s efforts to recover from the economic downturn.

The Sri Lankan delegation also reiterated their commitment to completing the IMF program and implementing an “ambitious reform agenda” to achieve debt sustainability and restore economic stability.

In addition to the IMF, the World Bank has also pledged support for Sri Lanka’s efforts to stabilize its economy, step up social protection, and revive growth. During a meeting with the Sri Lankan delegation, Managing Director of Operations Anna Bjerde reaffirmed the World Bank’s commitment to supporting Sri Lanka’s economic recovery.

On the sidelines of the Spring Meetings, Semasinghe also met with other key figures in international finance, including the Executive Director of the IMF and the Executive Director of the World Bank, to discuss Sri Lanka’s reform agenda and its commitment to successfully completing the IMF program.

The Spring Meetings come just weeks after the IMF green-lighted a 48-month extended arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program of SDR 2.286 billion (approximately USD 3 billion) for Sri Lanka. This program will allow Sri Lanka to access financing of up to USD 7 billion from the IMF, international financial institutions, and multilateral organizations.

Overall, Semasinghe noted that the Spring Meetings were a great opportunity for Sri Lanka to enhance cooperation with its international partners in order to ensure debt sustainability and further progress towards economic recovery.

Colombo (AsiaNews) – The Sri Lankan people’s struggle to defend their rights in the country’s grave situation is a witness to the new life transmitted by the Risen One said the Archbishop of Colombo, Card. Malcom Ranjith, in his Easter Sunday homily delivered in the cathedral.

It was a message linked to the fact that in the very same hours Sri Lanka commemorated the first anniversary of the beginning of Aragalaya, the popular uprising that began on April 9, 2022 and would later lead to the resignation of then President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in July.

Card. Ranjith noted that “Christianity is a faith of people who know how to smile even in the midst of problems. This is the resurrection. And that is what Jesus showed on the cross: he challenged the negative attitudes of life.”

“Some people,” he continued in his homily, “say not to try to change, but to let things go on by themselves. Instead, the young people who went to the square in front of Parliament wanted to be agents of change in this country. They showed courage. And resurrection means just that.”

“Instead, if we let ourselves be overcome by the force of habit, let things go, we no longer oppose evil. We are the ones who have to change. As Christians, we must commit ourselves: this is resurrection.”

The anniversary of the start of the protests was commemorated Sunday morning at the Galle Face Green with a windfall attended by religious leaders including Buddhist monks, a Methodist priest, a Catholic nun, Muslim representatives and several civil society activists. Relatives of people who died in Aragalaya were also present.

During the commemoration, organizers unveiled a memorial, lit lamps and performed religious rites in memory of the victims of the crackdown. One of the protest leaders, Ajantha Perera said that if progress has been made in the country since the year 2022, it is because of the people’s struggle.

“We see that the current government is also working to turn the people’s struggle into terrorism through various laws, but we say we are not afraid of them. Regardless of the threats and obstacles, we will continue to carry on this struggle to achieve the change we want in this country.”

asianews

The Federation of University Teachers’ Association (FUTA) has temporarily called off its strike action, which had been commenced in protest of the government’s tax policy. Accordingly, the university lecturers will rejoin academic activities from April 17.

The FUTA joined a countrywide one-day strike action led by the trade union collective of professionals on March 15 against the recent tax revision, electricity tariff hike, and several other unpopular decisions made by the incumbent government. Although services returned to normalcy after the token strike was called off the following day, the FUTA decided to continue its trade union action as satisfactory solutions were not provided for their demands.

As a result, the evaluation of 2022 G.C.E. Advanced Level examination papers was delayed by at least 50 days, with parents of the students expressing concerns about the future of their children. However, against this backdrop, FUTA convened a special meeting last night to decide on the A/L exam paper marking process.

The decision to temporarily call off the strike action comes after the FUTA held discussions with the government representatives and secured some of their demands. Therefore, the university lecturers have decided to suspend the strike action and resume academic activities from April 17.

Meanwhile, the Department of Examinations on Monday (10 April) announced that the 2022 GCE Ordinary Level examination, originally scheduled to commence on 15 May, has been postponed by two weeks, to 29 May. The reason behind the postponement is yet to be announced.

This decision by the FUTA has brought some relief to the students and their parents, who were worried about the delay in the evaluation process and the possible impact it could have on the academic progress of the students. The FUTA has assured that they will continue to fight for the rights of the university teachers and ensure that the government fulfills its promises.

1. President’s Chief of Staff Sagala Ratnayake says the Govt’s agreement with the IMF for the USD 2.9 bn 4-year IMF programme will be presented to Parliament on 25 April: emphasises importance of a structural reform programme for economic recovery and sustainable growth.
2. SLPP General Secretary MP Sagara Kariyawasam says its National Organiser Basil Rajapaksa may end up being its Presidential candidate in a future election: also says Party Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa still commands the loyalty of SLPP supporters.
3. Election Commission to postpone the Local Government Election once again: the election was scheduled to be held on April 25, after being postponed earlier as well.
4. Chairman of the National Delimitation Committee Mahindra Deshapriya says the total number of members of Local Government Authorities must be reduced to 4,714 as per the new Delimitation Report.
5. CB Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe says SL’s sovereign lenders have yet to inform the Govt how they will engage with the country to restructure its USD 7.1 bn of debt and whether they will form an official committee or engage in bi-lateral talks.
6. NielsenIQ’s Director Therica Miyanadeniya says expectations for the future have begun to pick up slowly: also says that according to LMD Magazine, 17% of the businesspeople interviewed in early March said they expect the economy to improve, compared to only 7% a month ago.
7. State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya says the Finance Ministry will bring down the price of school bags and shoes immediately: points out that with the start of the “new” school term, parents are having a hard time buying shoes and bags for their children: parents point out that the school term commenced in January.
8. Special discussion headed by Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera held to plan the despatch of 100,000 monkeys to Chinese Zoos: Ministry of Agriculture states there is a high demand for SL monkeys (Toque macaque) from China, which will help resolve the issue of exceeding monkey population in the country.
9. Cardinal Malcom Ranjith says the SL people’s struggle to defend their rights in the country’s grave situation is a witness to the new life transmitted by the “Risen One”.
10. Test Cricket skipper Dimuth Karunaratne says his team is not underestimating any team and wants to put up a good challenge against Ireland during the forthcoming 2 Test match series.

Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Kandy, Nuwara-eliya, Galle and Matara districts during the afternoon or night.

General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.

On the apparent northward relative motion of the sun, it is going to be directly over the latitudes of Sri Lanka during 05^th to 15^th of April in this year. The nearest areas of Sri Lanka over which the sun is overhead today (12^th) are Mankulam, Periyakulam, Kuratiyawa, Morawewa and Mahadiwlwewa at about 12:11 noon.