Investors in condominium property are to be given long term residence visa in a new drive of the government to boost foreign reserves and attract foreign investment.
The Board of Investment (BOI) in collaboration with the Department of Immigration and Emigration and the Ministry of Defense launched the long-term residence visa scheme for condominium property holders in Sri Lanka.
The official function was held at the BOI auditorium under the patronage of State Minister of Investment Promotion Dilum Amunugama, BOI Director General Renuka M. Weerakone, Dept. of Immigration I. S. H. Controller General and other respective officials on Thursday.
Under the new visa scheme, the condominium property purchasing individuals and companies will be granted a long-term residence visa considering the investment remitted and the value of purchasing the property. This scheme will be targeted to promote the selling of condominiums/apartments to foreign nationals who wish to live in Sri Lanka.
Accordingly, individuals who invest $ 200,000 in an urban area condominium are eligible for a 10-year long-term visa scheme while those who invest $ 150,000 in an urban area condominium are eligible for five years. Further, investors who invest $ 75,000 in suburban area condominiums are also eligible for five years.
On the other hand, companies that invest $ 500,000in an urban area condominium are eligible for a five-year long-term visa scheme while companies that invest $ 500,000 in a suburban area condominium are also eligible for a five-year long-term visa scheme.
At present, Sri Lanka has around 30,000 apartment blocks including private apartments, Government servants’ housing schemes, etc. Around 7,750 apartment units are managed by 968 condominium Management Corporations registered under the Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka (CMA).
Furthermore, the number of apartment units completed by the BOI is approximately 5,000 ranging from low-cost units to semi-luxury to super luxury.
It is also noteworthy that apart from the local investors, several countries have also shown interest in investing in the development of condominium projects and real estate developments in Sri Lanka. Besides, the majority of condominium buyers were Sri Lankan residents while there is a present trend of purchase of condominium units by dual citizens and foreigners.
In conclusion, the BOI hopes the new system will curb inconveniences the investors/enterprises face and further strengthen the digital transformation of work with the respective line agencies and ministries.
SL Government offers long term residence visa for condominium property buyers
CBSL announces Rs. 1,000 reimbursement for remittances by migrant workers
In a move to attract foreign remittances to troubleshoot the collapsing economy of Sri Lanka, all migrant workers who are resorting to foreign remittances equivalent to Rs. 20,000 or more will be entitled to an incentive of Rs. 1,000 as a reimbursement.
The announcement was made by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) yesterday (11).
The incentive applies for remittances received to accounts maintaining Sri Lankan Rupees in local banks over the counter cash receipts, the CBSL noted.
The offer can be obtained from a licenced bank or foreign remittance agent in Sri Lanka, it added.
MIAP
Sri Lanka’s trade deficit contracted in September 2022
Sri Lanka’s trade deficit contracted in September 2022 as import expenditure declined, year-on-year, for the seventh consecutive month, while earnings from exports remained robust, the Central Bank reported in its External Sector Performance review revealed.
Merchandise trade deficit declined to US$ 206 million in September 2022, compared to US$ 492 million in September 2021. The cumulative deficit in the trade account during January to September 2022 contracted to US$ 4.104 billion from US$ 5.999 billion recorded over the same period in 2021.
Earnings from exports remained robust in September 2022, while import expenditure declined for the seventh consecutive month, on a year-on-year basis, reflecting the significant reduction in imports of non-food consumer goods and investment goods.
As a result, the merchandise trade deficit recorded a notable contraction in September 2022, (y-o-y). Workers’ remittances increased marginally in September 2022, (y-o-y).
Earnings from tourism recorded an increase in September 2022, compared to the same period in 2021. Foreign investment in the government securities market and the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) recorded a notable net inflow during September 2022.
The Central Bank continued to provide forex liquidity to finance essential imports, exhausting the liquid level of gross official reserves. Meanwhile, the weighted average spot exchange rate in the interbank market remained around Rs. 362 per US dollar during the month.
The balance in the merchandise trade account recorded a deficit of US dollars 206 million in September 2022, compared to the deficit of US dollars 492 million recorded in September 2021 and US dollars 261 million recorded in August 2022.
Meanwhile, the cumulative deficit in the trade account during January-September 2022 narrowed to US dollars 4,104 million from US dollars 5,999 million recorded over the same period in 2021.
Earnings from merchandise exports grew by 4.3 per cent in September 2022, over September 2021, to US dollars 1,079 million. However, merchandise exports in September 2022 recorded a decline compared to August 2022 (US dollars 1,224 million).
An increase in earnings was observed in industrial and agricultural exports, while a marginal decline was recorded in mineral exports. Cumulative export earnings during January-September 2022 increased by 11.7 per cent over the same period in the last year, amounting to US dollars 9,981 million, which was mainly driven by the improvements in industrial export
Expenditure on merchandise imports declined by 15.8 per cent to US dollars 1,284 million in September 2022, compared to US dollars 1,526 million in September 2021 and US dollars 1,486 million in August 2022. A decline in import expenditure was observed in investment goods and non food consumer goods, mainly resulted from the measures to compress imports.
However, an increase was recorded in imports of intermediate goods and food and beverages.
On a cumulative basis, import expenditure from January to September 2022 amounted to US dollars 14,085 million, compared to US dollars 14,938 million recorded in the corresponding period in 2021.
Court orders Police to question ex President Rajapaksa
The Fort Magistrate Court ordered the Police to collect a statement from ex President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in connection with the near Rs. 18 million money sack recovered by anti-government protesters during the acquisition of the President’s House during the July uprising.
Those who recovered the said amount of money from the President’s House handed them over to the Fort Police Station. The amount was said to be Rs. 17.8 million in cash.
The order was issued by Colombo Fort Magistrate Thilina Gamage yesterday (11), and it was also ordered to conduct a probe into the matter.
MIAP
Focus to set up integrated mechanism for all govt services: Namal
The National Council Sub-Committee on identifying short and medium-term programmes related to National Policy is looking into establishing an integrated mechanism for all government services, said Committee Chief MP Namal Rajapaksa.
The MP mentioned regarding the formulation of policies to establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the public service when the aforesaid Committee met in Parliament recently (08).
The chairman whilst commenting on the legal obstacles regarding the integration of the services related to the government service of the country, also said that when considering the key performance indicators that are currently in operation, there are differences inherent in each institution.
Rajapaksa stated that there is the challenge of creating a key performance indicator that can be applied equally to all public services and it is the intention of his committee to submit and approve the national policy proposals related to building a more efficient public service when providing services to the public through the National Council.
The chairman also mentioned that the opinions, suggestions and support of all the island wide service providers are expected to successfully accomplish the task. The officials present mentioned that in addition to preparing the key performance indicators, changes should also be made in the existing organisational structure of the government mechanism.
Thus, the officials also pointed out the need to restructure according to the needs of the ministries and institutions under those respective ministries. The chairman mentioned that while maintaining 20 ministries precisely, the remaining 10 ministries are expected to be implemented flexibly. The Chairman also emphasised that the expectation of the sub-committee is to prepare the necessary background for the purpose of establishing the institutions belonging to the particular 20 ministries, the required number of state ministers and the departments under those state ministers by the constitution itself.
The Sri Lanka Accountants Service pointed out that there is no government agency to manage the sea area belonging to Sri Lanka, which is five hundred thousand square kilometers and further stated that the main reason for the failure of the state mechanism is because there is no concept in relation to the set goal of the country. A Sri Lanka Accountants’ Service suggested to the committee that it is appropriate to set up a joint mechanism for public service based on the concept of Sri Lanka being the first developed state in South Asia.
MPs Johnston Fernando, Pavithradevi Wanniarachchi, Wajira Abeywardana, M. Rameshwaran and representatives of the Government Medical Officers’ Association, Sri Lanka Administrative Service Association, Sri Lanka Government Ayurveda Medical Officer’s Association, Sri Lanka Education Administrative Service, Sri Lanka Accountant Service, Association of Public Service Engineers, Sri Lanka Planning Services Association, Government Surveyors Association, Government Veterinary Officers Association, Sri Lanka Agricultural Services Graduate Association, Government Scientific Officers Association, Sri Lanka Architectural Services Association attended the occasion.
People place great faith in President in finding solutions to problems facing SL: Sagala
The people have placed great faith in the government led by the President in finding solutions to the problems facing the country, said Senior Advisor to the President on National Security and Chief of Staff to the President Sagala Ratnayake.
Senior Adviser to the President on National Security and Chief of Staff to the President Sagala Ratnayake said that the people have great faith in the government led by the President in finding solutions to the problems that have arisen in the country including the economic crisis.
He said this during a special nutrition program held recently at St. Joseph’s College, Grandpass.
Mr Ratnayake said that due to the economic crisis in the country, the low-income oppressed segments of society have increased and the government has paid special attention to such programs to protect the nutritional status of such children.
He pointed out that the food security and nutrition assurance program, which was initiated recently under the guidance of the President, is a great strength. He added that he appreciates such nutrition programs carried out at a personal level.
Mr Ratnayake said that according to the program implemented by the President, this country can be transformed into a developed country in the future, but that requires a certain period.
He further said that to lead the country towards development through a proper vision, a firm policy framework must be prepared, adding that the President will work to legislate it as required and move it forward.
Colombo Deputy Mayor Mohammad Iqbal, Municipal Councilors M. Sarafdeen, Khalil Rahman, A.R.M. Safan and St. Joseph’s College Principal Prasad Samaratunga were present on this occasion.
New Ambassadors and HC present credentials to President RW
Seven newly appointed Ambassadors and a High Commissioner to Sri Lanka presented their credentials to President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Presidential Secretariat this morning (11).
Accordingly, His Excellency Mr. Federico Salas Lotfe, the Mexican Ambassador to Sri Lanka, His Excellency Mr. Rinchen Kuentsyl, the Bhutan Ambassador to Sri Lanka, His Excellency Mr. Fleming Raul Duarte, the Paraguay Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Her Excellency Peggy Frantzen, the Luxembourg Ambassador to Sri Lanka, His Excellency Mr. Levan Dzhagaryan, the Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, His Excellency Mr. Ahmed Ali Saeed Al Rashdi, the Oman Ambassador to Sri Lank, His Excellency Mr. Jean- Francois Pactet, the French Ambassador to Sri Lanka and His Excellency Mr. Kwaku Asomah Cheremeh the High Commissioner of Ghana to Sri Lanka who assumed duties recently met the President today.
Showers or thundershowers to continue in several provinces: Met Dept
Showers or thundershowers will occur in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, North-Western and Eastern provinces and in Galle and Matara districts during the afternoon or night, said the Department of Meteorology in a statement today (12).
Showers will occur in Western and North-Western provinces and in Galle and Matara districts during the morning too.
Fairly heavy showers about 75 mm can be expected at some places in Uva province and in Ampara district.
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 over sea areas around the island during afternoon or night. |
| Winds: |
| Winds will be south-westerly or variable in direction. Wind speed will be (20-30) kmph. Wind speed may increase up to (40-45) kmph at times in the sea areas off the coast extending from Hambanthota to Pottuvil. |
| State of Sea: |
| The sea areas off the coast extending fromHambanthota to Pottuvil will be fairly rough at times. The other sea areas around the island will be slight to moderate. Temporarily strong gusty winds and very rough seas can be expected during thundershowers. |
MIAP
Sri Lanka Original Narrative Summary: 12/11
- Diesel price increased by Rs.15 per litre and Kerosene price by Rs.25 per litre with immediate effect: new prices – Diesel Rs.430 and Kerosene Rs.365.
- Several UK MPs call on UK Government to refer Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court: highlight need for Sri Lanka to meet its GSP+ commitments and reduce its “excessive spending” on the military: ask the UK Government to propose conditionalities on IMF financial assistance for Sri Lanka.
- Colombo Fort Magistrate Thilina Gamage orders Police to record statement from former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on the Rs.17.8 million found inside the President’s House on 9th July.
- President Ranil Wickremesinghe says the country will not have a future if it does not focus on security: also says there was no tussle for the Indian Ocean previously, but it is not so, today.
- Health Secretary Dr. Janaka Sri Chandraguptha calls for report into the alleged purchase of a consignment of sexual stimulant injections on 30 June 2020 at over Rs 40,000 each.
- Ministry of Finance increases Import tax on Ethanol used for manufacture of disinfectant liquids to the level prior to the Covid pandemic: also increases tax on toddy from Rs.25 to Rs.50 per litre.
- Several new Envoys to Sri Lanka present credentials to President Ranil Wickremesinghe: the new diplomats are from Mexico, Bhutan, Paraguay, Luxembourg, Russia, Oman, France, and Ghana.
- Investment Promotion State Minister Dilum Amunugama launches “long-term residence visa scheme” for condominium property holders: Board of Investment, Department of Emigration and Ministry of Defence participate.
- Education Minister Susil Premajayantha admits Sri Lankan school children are not receiving adequate food: assures the government is trying to allocate more funds for the school mid-day meal programme.
- National Zoological Gardens DG Dr. Tilak Premakantha says a tiger, sloth bear, chimpanzee, pony, and a lion have been adopted by 4 persons at a sum of Rs.2,350,000 at the Dehiwala Zoo under its “foster care” programme.
After the midterms, America and its democracy look stronger
Shortly before the midterm elections, Donald Trump held a rally in Ohio. “Our country is becoming third-world,” he told voters. Later he hinted—is threatened a better word?—that he would soon announce he was running for president again. What could possibly go wrong for a party with such a figurehead? Or for one whose primary voters are so keen to relitigate the 2020 election that they chose a slate of candidates in key Senate seats chiefly for being the true keepers of the Trump flame.
Quite a lot, it turns out. The most important result of the 2022 midterms, for America and for the West, is that Mr Trump and his way of doing politics came out of them diminished. This will disappoint all those people, including the autocrats in Beijing and Moscow, who are looking for signs of American decline.
There are no blowout wins in American politics any more. When a party claims that America is theirs, based on how a few thousand votes break in a country of 330m, it is wise to raise an eyebrow and avoid overinterpreting the result. The president’s party nearly always loses seats in the midterms: there have been only three exceptions to this pattern since the civil war ended in 1865. Voters seem to like divided government, which has been the norm in Washington since the 1970s. They punish any party that holds majorities in both chambers of Congress and the presidency, as Barack Obama found in 2010, Mr Trump found in 2018 and therefore Joe Biden’s team must have expected this year. Neither party is currently capable of holding on to a commanding majority of the kind that once allowed them to pursue grand legislative programmes in Washington.
On the Democratic side there are many explanations for this. It is hard to boast about increased federal spending when many voters suspect that Democrats had a hand in raising inflation above 8%. The Democratic Party seems perennially befuddled about what exactly to propose on crime or immigration. Because they are fixated on the weirdness and the threats to democracy posed by many Republicans, Democrats tend to overlook how strange voters think they are. A poll commissioned by Third Way, a centrist Democratic think-tank, shortly before the election found that voters question whether the party’s candidates share basic American attitudes towards patriotism and hard work. When asked which party is more extreme, the average voter replies that Democrats are.
That ought to have been a gift to Republicans in a midterm year. Yet the party doesn’t have any better ideas on how to tackle America’s problems, and has quite a few for making them worse. Elected Republicans let the country down by trying to wriggle out of rejecting Mr Trump’s claims about the 2020 election. By doing so they also robbed their party of a chance to rethink and rebuild itself after its defeat, which is what parties normally do. Mr Trump is still nominally the chief Republican. He has an iron grip on the party’s berserker faction. Yet after this week’s vote, he looks more vulnerable than at any time since January 6th 2021, when many Americans thought this time he had gone too far.
That presents an opportunity. Mr Trump can profit from breaking things. Many voters want a fighter, and refusing to concede and inciting a riot is proof of pugilism. After this week’s vote the suspicion that Mr Trump is, in fact, just a loser will be much harder for him to overcome. And that is what his record points to. In 2020 he was the first incumbent since Jimmy Carter to follow a president from the other party and then lose. In 2018 the Republicans lost 41 seats in the House under the Trump banner (Democrats may have lost only a handful this week). Even at his moment of greatest triumph, in 2016, he lost the popular vote and only narrowly beat a candidate who was trying to follow a two-term president from her own party, something which rarely happens. Now 2022 can be added to this less-than-stellar streak.
His handpicked candidates turned winnable Senate races into nail-biters in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania. Meanwhile in Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis, a probable rival, won by roughly 20 points. Two Republican candidates for governor closely associated with Trumpism—Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania and Tim Michels in Wisconsin—both repeated the lost-cause story about 2020 and vowed to use their influence over election administration to make sure no Republican presidential candidate would lose again in their state. It was they who lost. In Michigan and Nevada Republican candidates who swore the 2020 election was stolen ran for secretary of state so that they might oversee the next one. They lost, too. In Colorado Lauren Boebert, who has flirted with the QAnon conspiracy, may lose the safest of seats.
It turns out that common sense can still sometimes beat partisan reflexes after all. At the margin voters distinguish between good and bad candidates, which matters when the margins are thin. American democracy seems healthier and more secure as a result.
Where does this leave the country? Alas, for the next two years Congress is likely to become mired in theatrical showdowns over funding the government and pointless investigations into the business dealings of Hunter Biden, the president’s son. America’s real problems will go unanswered.
Given that sterile prospect, it is in America’s and the Republican Party’s interest to move on from Mr Trump and look forward. But perhaps surprisingly, given that he has just presided over a creditable midterm performance, there are also doubts whether Mr Biden should be the Democratic nominee in 2024. His administration has, like any presidency, got plenty of things wrong. But by arming Ukraine and putting policies in place to drastically reduce carbon emissions, it has got two important things right. Now, also for the good of party and country, Mr Biden might rethink what he does next.
Walking away from power is a noble American tradition that is almost as old as the republic. By following it, Mr Biden could deny Mr Trump the 2020 rematch he so clearly craves. Republicans in Congress might be a bit less obsessed with blocking anything that could look like a presidential win. And Democrats might make rebuilding democracy more than a self-serving talking point. With his achievements and his party’s relative success in these elections Mr Biden has an opportunity to depart on his own terms. He should use it.
THE ECONOMIST