Japan is working to organize a meeting of Sri Lanka’s creditors by the end of this year in hopes of solving that country’s debt crisis, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
The meeting, which will discuss such issues as finding ways to reduce debt payments, aims to curb China’s influence by helping Sri Lanka cope with its so-called debt traps, which arose after China provided huge loans to the country to fund infrastructure developments and other projects.
The Paris Club, an informal group of 22 official creditor nations, has assured its fullest support for Sri Lanka to overcome the current debt crisis.
The assurance was given by the Co-Chairman of the Paris Club, William Roos in a meeting held with State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe in Washington, during IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings.
“Mr. Roos assured The Paris Club’s fullest support for Sri Lanka’s ongoing efforts to find an early resolution to its debt crisis,” State Minister Semasinghe said in a tweet.
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe asked Japan for help during talks with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other people during a visit to Japan at the end of September to attend the funeral of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, according to Japanese government sources.
The meeting is expected to focus on measures to reduce debt payments and postpone repayment deadlines, among other related steps. Japan continues to urge other creditor countries to play a proactive role in dealing with the issue.
Sri Lanka’s economy has suffered due to sluggish tourism during the novel coronavirus pandemic and soaring food and resource prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In April, the Sri Lankan government introduced an emergency measure to suspend its repayment of external debts.
According to the Sri Lankan government, the nation’s external debt at the end of June stood at $46.6 billion, accounting for about 70% of its gross domestic product.
Sri Lanka has more than 20 creditors, with China topping the list at $7.3 billion, followed by Japan at $2.7 billion and India at $1.7 billion.
While struggling to repay its debts, Sri Lanka in 2017 effectively transferred to China the operating rights of one of its ports.
China — which has come under criticism from the international community for causing Sri Lanka’s economic collapse — will not play a leading role in restructuring Sri Lanka’s debts, and the Japanese government will have to tread carefully in its efforts to reach agreement among creditors in a manner acceptable to Beijing.
Japan to organize SL creditors’ meeting amidst Paris Club support
Govt seeks ILO help to set up digital database of workforce
The Government has sought assistance from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to build a digital database of Sri Lanka’s workforce.
The request was made when ILO Country Director Simrin C. Singh and ILO Headquarters Senior Employment Specialist Sher Verick called on Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena yesterday.
Citing the initiatives taken by the Labour Ministry to create a thorough digitalised database of the workforce, Premier Gunawardena called on the ILO to facilitate to fast-track the process.
The Prime Minister informed on the overview of the economic impact post-pandemic and challenges on the workforce, as well as the Government’s short-term and long-term measures taken to rebuild the economy and assist employees, employers, whilst giving more attention to safeguard low-income workers.
Highlighting the Government’s strong desire to promote mobility in the labour force, Prime Minister Gunawardena provided an explanation of the numerous training initiatives that have been undertaken to advance skill sets. He believes that increasing the quality and quantity of work is the most effective way of lifting people out of poverty.
Despite some indications of encouraging trends, ILO Country Director Singh said most developing nations, including Sri Lanka, are struggling due to the global recession, budget constraints, issues with debt sustainability, and rising inflation.
Against this backdrop, she stated that these difficulties have led to a labour market crisis.
Employment Specialist Verick claimed the ILO’s founding principles were concerned not only with securing sources of income but also with providing a way for individuals to live a self-determined existence and fully participate as citizens in their communities.
Labour and Foreign Employment Minister Manusha Nanayakkara stressed that quality is the essence of the concept of decent work, which is defined by the ILO as chances for men and women to achieve productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity.
The ILO delegation pledged its full support to all of the Government’s initiatives for the welfare of the workers and steps to improve workforce skills.
Opposition Leader adds congratulations to Booker Prize 2022 winner Shehan Karunatilaka
Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa speaking to Parliament today (18) added his congratulations to Shehan Karunatilaka, winner of the Booker Prize 2022, for his novel ‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida.’
Appreciating Karunatilaka’s global recognition, the Opposition Leader added he won the Gratian Prize in 2008, the Commonwealth Prize in 2010 and the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature in 2012 for his novel “Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Matthew.”
MIAP
WB to work with the IMF and foreign donors for SL’s sustainable growth
The World Bank has assured it will work closely with the International Monetary Fund and other development partners, to support Sri Lanka’s recovery and sustainable growth.
The assurance was given by World Bank Vice President South Asia Martin Raiser during a brief meeting with State Finance Minister Shehan Semasinghe on the sidelines of the IMF and the World Bank annual meetings taking place in Washington, D.C.
A statement issued by the Finance Ministry noted that State Minister Semasinghe had an insightful conversation on options available to recover Sri Lanka’s economy with the World Bank Vice President for the South Asia Region Raiser and World Bank delegation.
The State Minister also added the new concessional funding requested by Sri Lanka would remain linked to reforms, the progress of debt restructuring, and the program agreed with the IMF.
The discussions also focused on the current creditworthiness of Sri Lanka, which is no longer entitled to source funding through the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
The process will entail a ‘reverse graduation’ to International Development Association (IDA), which will move Sri Lanka from an IBRD-only country to an IDA country. However Sri Lanka will remain listed as a middle-income country, the statement added.
As per the World Bank Vice President South Asia, sustained improvements in economic and social conditions by the Government could pave the way for Sri Lanka to graduate from IDA in the future.
State Minister Semasinghe is heading the Sri Lankan delegation attending IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Washington, D.C.
The World Bank’s Vice President South Asia said that it would extend further support after reaching an agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
This was stated at a discussion between World Bank representatives and State Minister Semasinghe in Washington.
There are 17 ongoing World Bank-funded projects in Sri Lanka. The World Bank’s, said that the projects were being redesigned to provide financial assistance to meet the current crisis.
Explaining the current situation in the country, the minister pointed out the need to provide the World Bank loan assistance to banks and financial institutions.
He requested the WB representatives to take necessary measures to issue such financial assistance at low interest rates to the people engaged in agriculture, livestock, small and medium scale enterprises and businesses.
Representatives of the World Bank said that they have already decided to allocate funds for domestic gas and fertilizer supplies.
Tax increases, the removal of diesel and kerosene subsidies will have a severe impact on many sectors including fisheries.
The government is also concerned about other groups at risk. He said that these issues would have to be considered in reaching an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Trade Unions responding to CEYPETCO go on sick leave. Legal actions will be taken, says Subject Minister!
Trade Unions responding to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CEYPETCO) today (18) have decided to resort to a trade union action in objection to the proposed Special Petroleum Regulations Act due to be debated in Parliament by going on sick leave.
President of the Petroleum Public Employees Union Asoka Ranwala warned that fuel distribution may be delayed due to this trade union action.
However, responding to the trade union action, Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara said that legal actions will be taken against anyone obstructing the distribution of fuel or any affair of the energy field, under the provisions of the Essential Service Regulations Act.
MIAP
Shehan Karunatilaka interview: ‘Sri Lankans specialise in gallows humour. It’s our coping mechanism’
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida has won the Booker Prize 2022, and a few weeks earlier we spoke to Shehan Karunatilaka about the legacy of his country’s civil war, his publisher’s tough love… and exploring the afterlife
How does it feel to be longlisted for the Booker Prize 2022, and what would winning mean to you?
To make any longlist requires luck. To get longlisted before the UK launch of your book is an extra bit of fortune. To have a novel about Sri Lanka’s chaotic past come out just when the world is watching Sri Lanka’s chaotic present also requires an alignment of dark forces. Unlike my protagonist Maali Almeida, I don’t gamble. So I don’t expect to roll two more sixes, though I will scream with joy if I do.
What was the starting point for The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida? Was it a slowburn idea or a moment of clarity? What made you want to write this particular book now?
I began thinking about it in 2009, after the end of our civil war, when there was a raging debate over how many civilians died and whose fault it was. A ghost story where the dead could offer their perspective seemed a bizarre enough idea to pursue, but I wasn’t brave enough to write about the present, so I went back 20 years, to the dark days of 1989.
What does your writing process look like? Do you type or write in longhand? Are there multiple drafts, long pauses, sudden bursts of activity? How long did The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida take to write?
It took too long. I began writing in 2014 and went through multiple versions, but maybe it needed that amount of time to evolve. First, I researched 1989, studied supernatural folklore, collected ghost stories and filled A3 sheets with notes in pencil. Then I typed an outline. And did beats for every chapter. Of course, the outline kept changing, as did the beats, and the ideas. But as soon as Maali’s voice emerged, the story began to find its rhythm, and five years later was ready to be read.
You’re one of several writers on the longlist published in the UK by small independent publishers – what does that mean to you, and how does it affect you as a writer?
It’s wonderful to be with a publisher who cares about the work and is able to give the story the tough love it needs. I’m not sure a larger publisher would’ve been as patient and generous as Natania Jansz and Mark Ellingham at Sort of Books were with Seven Moons, and its author.
We worked steadily through the pandemic to make sure the strange plots and off-kilter characters were easy to digest. Then Peter Dyer created that brilliant cover. It was a true team effort and we’re all delighted to share this success.
One reviewer described The Seven Moons… as ‘part ghost story, part whodunnit, part political satire’. Is that a fair description, or are there other significant ‘parts’ that potential readers should know about?
Three balls is plenty to be juggling. So yes we had the mystery, the afterlife and the politics to balance the narrative. But there’s also a love triangle at the heart of this, some tender relationships and a fair bit of ghostly philosophising. Though hopefully the reader is too caught up in the story to notice the many moving parts.
For those who might not be very familiar with Sri Lanka’s civil war, what made you decide to set the book in 1989? What’s the significance of that year and what are the parallels between Sri Lanka then and now?
1989 was the darkest year in my memory, where there was an ethnic war, a Marxist uprising, a foreign military presence and state counter-terror squads. It was a time of assassinations, disappearances, bombs and corpses. But by the end of the 1990s, most of the antagonists were dead, so I felt safer writing about these ghosts, rather than those closer to the present.
I’ve no doubt many novels will be penned about Sri Lanka’s protests, petrol queues and fleeing Presidents. But even though there have been scattered incidents of violence, today’s economic hardship cannot be compared to the terror of 1989 or the horror of the 1983 anti-Tamil pogroms.
We all pray it stays that way.
Although set against a backdrop of violence, the book – like your first novel, Chinaman – is very funny. The Booker judges described it as being ‘angrily comic’. Is that the tone you were aiming for and, if so, why?
Despite having a grim history and a troubled present, Sri Lanka is not a dour or depressing place. We specialise in gallows humour and make jokes in the face of our crises. Just look at the zany footage of the July 9 presidential pool party and the many memes surrounding the Aragalaya.
Laughter is clearly our coping mechanism. In Chinaman, I used the archetype of the drunk uncle, and for Seven Moons it was the closet queen. Both characters are known for a dark and cruel sense of what’s funny.
Do you ever imagine your own afterlife? If so, how does it compare to the one you’ve invented here?
In the course of researching this, I didn’t encounter any ghosts or have any convincing epiphanies on the hereafter. But I’m not sure if any of the great ghosthunters or famous spiritualists have either. Who’s to say my version of a disorganised bureaucratic afterlife with an absent God isn’t the correct one?
1989 was the darkest year in my memory, where there was an ethnic war, a Marxist uprising, a foreign military presence and state counter-terror squads.
An earlier version of The Seven Moons… was published in India in 2020 as Chats with the Dead, yet it seemed to take a while to find an international audience. Why do you think that was and how did it change in becoming The Seven Moons…?
They’re both the same book, though Moons is perhaps less esoteric to a western reader and more accessible to an audience who know nothing about Sri Lanka or its ghosts.
You’ve written a children’s book and, according to Wisden, the second-best book about cricket ever written – as well as rock songs and copy for advertisements. What are you working on next and how different from The Seven Moons… will it be?
I am working on a few new projects, but none of them will feature cricket or ghosts.
You’re the second Sri Lankan writer in two years to be nominated for the Booker. Have western audiences finally woken up to the quality of Sri Lankan writing or is it just in a very strong place right now? Which other Sri Lankan writers should people be reading?
There’s no shortage of compelling stories in Sri Lanka’s past or present. When I started writing Carl Muller, Romesh Gunasekera, Shyam Selvadurai and Michael Ondaatje were the gold standard. As well as Arthur C. Clarke, whom I very much claim as a Sri Lankan writer.
Today, we have literary stylists like Anuk Arudpragasm and Nayomi Munaweera, genre storytellers like Yudhanjaya Wijeratne and Amanda Jay, comic scribes like Ashok Ferrey and Andrew Fidel Fernando, and dozens of talented writers like poet Vivimarie Vanderpoorten and essayist Indi Samarajiva.
And this is just in English. Hopefully, a new generation of translators can bring contemporary Sinhalese and Tamil works to a wider audience.
Do you have a favourite Booker-winning or Booker-shortlisted novel?
Just one? Could easily do a top 10, but I’ll stop at 5.
Lincoln in the Bardo. Cloud Atlas. The Handmaid’s Tale. Girl, Woman, Other.
And, of course, Midnight’s Children.
Appropriation Bill 2023 to be tabled in Parliament today
The Budget Appropriation Bill for 2023 will be tabled in Parliament today (18).
The decision has been taken during the Working Committee on Parliamentary Affairs chaired by Speaker Abeywardena.
Commencing from today, the Parliament sittings will continue till October 21.
Oral questions will be taken into account from 09.30 to 10.30 in the morning, and the debate on the second reading of the Petroleum Special Provisions Bill will be held from 10.30 am to 05.00 pm.
Thereafter, from 05.00 pm to 05.30 pm the debate based on the government’s motion to adjourn the assembly will be held.
MIAP
Talks on importing wheat kernels and wheat flour from Russia
A recent discussion between Sri Lankan Minister of Trade, Commerce and Food Safety Nalin Fernando and Russian Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Ivanov Mikhail in Moscow has reportedly focused on importing wheat kernels and wheat flour to Sri Lanka from Russia.
In addition to the import of wheat kernel and wheat flour, the import of fertiliser currently required by Sri Lanka and the import of chemicals through the Sri Lanka State Trading Corporation have also been discussed during the meeting, reports add.
The meeting was attended by Minister Susil Premjayanth, Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Trade, Commerce and Food Security D. Jeevanathan and many officials of the Russian Ministry of Trade and Industry.
MIAP
Shehan Karunatilaka wins Booker prize for The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
Judges described the Sri Lankan author’s second novel as a ‘rollercoaster journey through life and death’ and praised its audacity and ambition
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka has won the Booker prize for fiction. The judges praised the “ambition of its scope, and the hilarious audacity of its narrative techniques”.
Karunatilaka’s second novel, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida comes more than a decade after his debut, Chinaman, which was published in 2011. The Booker-winning novel tells the story of the photographer of its title, who in 1990 wakes up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. With no idea who killed him, Maali has seven moons to contact the people he loves most and lead them to a hidden cache of photos of civil war atrocities that will rock Sri Lanka.
Neil MacGregor, chair of the judges for this year’s prize, said the novel was chosen because “it’s a book that takes the reader on a rollercoaster journey through life and death right to what the author describes as the dark heart of the world”.
“And there the reader finds, to their surprise, joy, tenderness, love and loyalty,” he added.
MacGregor was joined on the judging panel by academic and broadcaster Shahidha Bari; historian Helen Castor; novelist and critic M John Harrison; and novelist, poet and professor Alain Mabanckou. The judges were unanimous in their decision to award the prize to Karunatilaka, according to the chair.
Receiving his prize, Karunatilaka addressed the people of Sri Lanka in Tamil and Sinhalese. He summarised what he said in English: “I write these books for you… Let’s keep sharing these stories.”
He said he hopes that one day the political situation in Sri Lanka will be such that his novel will “sit on the fantasy shelves of bookshops”.
This year the original 1969 Booker prize trophy was reinstated in memory of its creator, the children’s author and illustrator Jan Pieńkowski, who died in February.
The trophy was presented to Karunatilaka by Camilla, the Queen Consort, in one of her first official public engagements since she took on her new role, at a ceremony hosted by comedian Sophie Duker at the Roundhouse in London. Last year’s winner Damon Galgut presented Karunatilaka with his prize money of £50,000.
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is published by the independent press Sort of Books. This year is the first time a book by the publisher has been longlisted for the prize. Karunatilaka has become the second Sri Lankan-born author to win, following Michael Ondaatje, who won in 1992 with The English Patient.
In his Guardian review, Tomiwa Owolade said the book’s “scenarios are often absurd … but executed with a humour and pathos that ground the reader”. He added: “Karunatilaka has done artistic justice to a terrible period in his country’s history.”
Karunatilaka, was born in Galle, Sri Lanka, in 1975 and grew up in Colombo. Chinaman won the Commonwealth prize, the DSL and the Gratiaen prize, and was selected for the BBC and The Reading Agency’s Big Jubilee Read. The author has also written rock songs and screenplays.
The other books on the shortlist were Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo, The Trees by Percival Everett, Treacle Walker by Alan Garner, Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan and Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout.
MacGregor said that although all six books on the shortlist were very different, “it became clear … that they were all really about one question, and that is ‘what’s the importance of an individual life?’”
Bea Carvalho, head of fiction at Waterstones, said she and her colleagues were “thrilled” that Karunatilaka’s “fiercely inventive novel” had won.
She describedThe Seven Moons of Maali Almeida as “a triumphant, epic feat of imagination and wisdom which dissects a dark period of our recent history with satire and panache”.
Filmed extracts from the shortlisted books, directed by Kevin Thomas and starring Nikki Amuka-Bird, Jarvis Cocker, Anna Friel, David Harewood, Sharon Horgan and Prasanna Puwanarajah, were shown during the ceremony.
Singer-songwriter Dua Lipa delivered a keynote speech on how her love of reading helped her connect with her family and identity. She said early obsessions included Roald Dahl and Malorie Blackman, “both of whom gave me little pearls of wisdom that still guide me today”.
Earlier this year, the singer launched a podcast called At Your Service, with guests including Hanya Yanagihara and Min Jin Lee. She said speaking one-to-one with some of her favourite authors was “honestly better than any therapy session I’ve ever been to”.
The ceremony was broadcast as part of a 45-minute Front Row special on BBC Radio 4, where presenter Samira Ahmed interviewed British-Turkish author Elif Shafak about what the attack on Salman Rushdie’s life means for writers around the world. The ceremony also paid tribute to double-Booker winner Hilary Mantel, who died in September.
Tea Exporters warn of industry collapse following Corporate Income Tax increase
Sri Lanka tea export sector, one of the major foreign exchange earners for the country bringing a revenue of around 1.3 billion annually in to the country is in the brink of crashing due to government’s economic mismanagement and short sighted ill conceived policy decisions, industry stalwarts claimed.
Several leaders of Tea Exporters Association (TEA) complied that the government’s fiscal policy decision of imposing 30 percent corporate income tax will seriously hinder the industry efforts for revival.
The association appealed to the government to maintain the concessionary corporate income tax rate of 14 percent for the tea export sector for its long term sustainability, which will ultimately bring in much higher growth dividends for the economy.
The sector is currently going through a challenging period due to a number of internal and external issues and this increase of corporate income tax by more than 100% from this month could further aggravate the plight of tea exporters.
Some of the internal issues tea exporters are grappling with are; the decline in tea crop by about 20 percent during first eight months of the year that has restricted the tea export volume, primarily due to the fertilizer shortages;
Uncompetitive high interest rates that have increased the financial cost with the large amount of working capital required for purchase of tea for cash at the weekly auctions, which fund the tea producers and the small holders’ livelihood and sustainability.
The external issues faced include, Russian- Ukraine conflict, sharp depreciation of Turkish Lira together with financial sanctions on Iran and some other leading tea importing countries in Middle East.
Although India has introduced “Indian Rupee Trading” mechanism to overcome certain financial sanctions and increase her tea exports to Iran and Russia, Sri Lanka has no such mechanism to overcome these obstacles.
Despite all these challenges the tea exporters have earned $ 819 million during the first eight months of the year and are hopeful that it could bring about $ 1.2 billion by the end of the year.
This move by the government to more than double the corporate income tax rate will impact all-important net foreign exchange earning of Tea industry mainly in three ways.
It would deplete sri lanka tea exportsecyor competitiveness in the world market against some of our key competing countries such as India and Kenyaand destroy the industries capability to invest for growth and maintaining such competitiveness, they said.
It will also reduce our ability to pay the best prices for the Tea growers including the large population of small holder farmers.
When more funds should be made available at the disposal of exporters for dealing with internal and external challenges it is rather surprising that government has decided the other way around without giving much consideration to the plight of tea exporters.
The proposed increase in corporate income tax up to 30 percent will have multiple implications on the sector especially on investment in machinery for developing and modernizing the tea processing factories for improvement in efficiency and optimizing cost of operation, enhancing value addition of tea, and marketing of Ceylon Tea brands abroad etc.
The available funds from profits for such activities / investments would be severely curtailed with the revision of corporate income tax from 14 to 30 percent tea exporters said, adding that it may also affect generating employment opportunities for the youth due to low investment in the industry further affecting the competitiveness of Ceylon Tea as some of the competitors like Kenya has lower income tax rate of 16 percent on export trade.
The new Kenyan government is looking at providing Ksh 800 million ($ 6 million) for developing orthodox tea manufacturing factories to compete with Ceylon orthodox teas. Contrary to this, all investments for modernisation or development of tea factories in Sri Lanka are borne by the private sector.
The Indian government offers INR 10 per kilogram for manufacture of orthodox tea, once again to compete with Ceylon orthodox tea.
When the Sri Lankan government is not providing such incentives or investments the best they can do is to lower the corporate income tax on the export sector to help investment and marketability of Ceylon Tea by the private sector.
According to tea industry experts the increase in corporate income tax could affect the overall efficiency in the tea industry and the burden may sooner or later could felt through the entire supply chain including the tea smallholder growers.