The quarrying sector which provides material for the construction industry, a vital cog in the economy is in dire straits due to the current foreign exchange scarcity in the country that has brought imports of ammonia nitrate, an industrial chemical used as an explosive for quarrying, to a halt, according to National Metal Products Association officials.
Adding fuel to the fire , A company that was importing ammonium nitrate used for blasting rock was selling at high prices using a Defence Ministry import permit and directed prices, putting the construction material suppliers in difficulty, an SJP MP has charged.
State Minister for Trade Nalin Fernando said the issue had been raised in cabinet.Opposition legislator Hesha Withanage said ammonium nitrate, cost about 540 dollars a tonne in the international market which worked out to around 200 rupees a kilogram.
“Even if it costs more and you add all other expenses it can still be given for 700-800 rupees a kilo,” Withanage told parliament.
Progress of the quarry industry which offers close to one million direct and indirect employment (over 300,000 direct and 500,000 indirect jobs) and serves as a vital component in the construction industry has come to a standstill due to lack of attention by the authorities who have turned a deaf hear and a blind eye to the grievances of the industry, National Metal Product Association leading member alleged
He noted that officials had been briefed about the plight of the industry which cannot go on without the industrial chemical which is not being imported due to the forex crisis.
Ammonia nitrate is imported by a single entity and it is regulated by the Ministry of Defense.
The employers are unable to pay wages of workers and service loans obtained from banks and leasing companies for investments, he added.
The industry comprises around 1,828 quarries and undermining the quantum of banking and leasing facilities offered to the industry could adversely affect the banking and leasing sectors of the country, the Association officials said.
Authorities authorities had issued instructions ordering the product to be sold 1,910 rupees, he claimed MP Withanage said.
When State Trading Company was importing rock blasting explosives there was no such problem,he claimed. .
Now there was only one company supplying the product and the importer in question had several persons with the name Rajapaksa as directors, Withanage claimed, questioning whether the government was creating opportunities for favoured parties to fleece the people during an economic crisis.
“We will not say silent, if this is what the President is allowing to happen,” he said.
Trade Minister Nalin Fernando said there appeared to be a problem with blasting powder and it has been discussed at cabinet.
The STC used to import the produce for many years from an Indian supplier and India had banned exports, leading to permits being given by the Defence Ministry to other importers he said.
“Yes the Defence Ministry can’t decide the price and our Chairman said in a letter to the defence ministry that going forward STC is the agency in charge of blasting powder.”
He said the matter would be discussed further to find a solution but he was not in favour of imposing price controls.
“There is no need to bring in a controlled price, we can discuss it and reduce it,” he said. “If we bring in a controlled price, we may lose suppliers and also we must look for a way to bring in the goods quickly, because there is a shortage.”
SL quarrying sector in dire straits as result of blasting powder controversy
Sri Lanka to allocate land from 16 industrial zones for investors
Sri Lanka’is now ready to lease land from industrial estates for 35 years to 16 investors expecting over 4.5 billion rupees in investment and over 2,400 direct employment opportunities.
The cabinet of ministers has cleared the award of state land in regional industrial zones to to 16 investors, Cabinet spokesman Minister Bandula Gunawardana said.
The awards were recommended by regional industrial services committees and a project evaluation committee of the Ministry of Industries, he disclosed
The cabinet had cleared a proposal by Minister Ramesh Pathirana to award the lands to the investors. The land will be given on 35 year leases, Minister Gunawardana said.
A cabinet statement said a project evaluation committee of the Ministry of Industries had studied project proposals and recommended that land be allotted from 16 industrial estates for their implementation.
“Regional Industrial Estate Program is a major program implemented with the objective of regional level industrial development.
Selection of appropriate investors for the programme is done after a thorough evaluation of the Project proposals by the ‘Regional Industrial Services Committee’ established under the Industrial Promotion Act No. 46 of 1990 and the ‘Ministry Project Evaluation Committee’ maintained under the Ministry of Industry,” the statement said.
“Selected investors are expected to invest Rs. 4,523.34 million and to generate 2477 direct employment opportunities
“The government has allocated land in industrial zones for investors unable to purchase lands and build factories on their own,” said Gunawardena, speaking at the weekly cabinet press briefing on Tuesday11.
Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) make up a large part of Sri Lanka’s economy, accounting for 80 per cent of all businesses.
There are SMEs in the agri-business sector engaged in growing spices, fruits and vegetables and in the manufacturing sector engaged in numerous industrial activities accounting for about 20 percent of industrial establishments.
In the service sector, SMEs accounts for more than 90 percent of business establishments and SMEs are an essential source of employment opportunities and are estimated to contribute about 35 percent of employment in the country.
Priority will be given for project proposals of investors who are in the SME sector , he said, adding that this will be an impetus for this sector grappling to survive in the economic crisis.
Finance Ministry to crackdown on illegal vehicle import racketeers
Urgent measures will be taken to give the value of the vehicles to the people that have been impounded after being illegally imported into Sri Lanka, Finance State Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said.
While paying an inspection tour to the South Asia Logistics Terminal which comes under the purview of the Sri Lanka Customs, the Minister pointed out that in a situation where the country is faced with a grave economic crisis, it is not worthwhile letting the vehicles of high value to become corroded and perished in the yards where those are being p
Two more Hummer vehicles illegally imported into the country were found at the Sri Lanka customs yesterday during an emergency inspection by State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya.
The State Minister paid an emergency inspection at the Sri Lankan Customs and found many items and goods which were prepared to be exported illegally.
Five containers with full of goods, classified under scrap paper, were opened in front of the state minister.
When the containers were opened the state minister and the officials found four of the containers were loaded with brass, copper and galvanized iron pipes which are on the export ban list. Only one container which was declared genuinely containing scrap paper had the original consignment within.
The minister stated that it was a crime to illegally export brass, copper and galvanized iron pipes, which are essential raw materials for the local industrialists.
The two Hummers which were imported illegally were found in another container during the inspection.
Earlier, State Minister Siyambalapitiya had called for a report after a Hummer was illegally imported and sold following malicious tender procedure and sold at a government auction to the same illegal importer who had got it down.
The Hummer reportedly illegally imported into Sri Lanka along with three other vehicles in February 2022.
Some 466 vehicles have been imported illegally since 2015 and parked at the terminal. It was revealed that 90% of those vehicles were imported as unlawfully assembled units.
The Minister stated that urgent measures would be taken to ensure the value of the vehicles is given to the people. He said if the existing laws are not sufficient, “We will not hesitate to legislate or take necessary action.”
The Minister also said that the report on the probe into customs’ selling confiscated ’Hummer’ to the same importer at an undervalued pricing had been received.
Earlier, the minister said in parliament that Rs. 40 million worth of ‘hummer’ which was seized by the Customs, had been sold at an auction to the same person who illegally imported it for lesser than 33% of the estimated value
Putin ‘totally miscalculated’ Russia’s ability to occupy Ukraine, Biden says
Joe Biden has said he believes Vladimir Putin is a “rational actor” who badly misjudged his prospects of occupying Ukraine, but does not believe he would resort to using a tactical nuclear weapon.
The US president told CNN on Tuesday that he believed his Russian counterpart had underestimated the ferocity of Ukrainian defiance in the face of invasion.
“I think … he thought he was going to be welcomed with open arms, that this was the home of Mother Russia in Kyiv, and that where he was going to be welcomed, and I think he just totally miscalculated,” Biden said.
“I think he is a rational actor who has miscalculated significantly.”
When asked by interviewer Jake Tapper how realistic he believed it would be for Putin to use a tactical nuclear weapon, Biden responded: “Well, I don’t think he will.”
Biden’s comments came as Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, accused Russia of launching a “second wave of terrorist attacks” in the wake of the blast that engulfed Crimea’s Kerch bridge. Zelenskiy said in a video address that 20 of 28 missiles launched by Russia on Tuesday were shot down, as well as “most” of the 15 combat drones deployed.
In smaller gains in announced by Ukraine’s Operational Command early on Wednesday, the army destroyed Russian equipment and an ammunition depot along Ukraine’s southern line. At least 23 Russian soldiers were killed, it said.
Earlier, Zelesnkiy asked G7 leaders for more air defence systems and a monitoring mission on the Belarusian border, as Russia continued to attack key infrastructure in Ukraine with fresh missile strikes.
In response to Zelenskiy’s speech, G7 leaders issued a statement saying they would “stand firmly with Ukraine for as long as it takes”.
The White House national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, said on Tuesday the US was working to expedite the shipment of Nasams air defences capable of engaging Russian cruise missiles. Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine reported on Tuesday that Ukraine had received a delivery of the German Iris-T air defence system.
Biden’s administration is looking for what he has described as an “off-ramp” for Putin to de-escalate his invasion of Ukraine before he resorts to weapons of mass destruction.
Biden warned last week that the world risks “Armageddon” in unusually direct remarks about the dangers posed by Putin’s thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons to assist Russia’s faltering attempt to take over swathes of Ukraine.
Putin’s state of mind has been the subject of much debate after the Russian president suffered a series of recent military set-backs in the invasion, which he launched in February.
On Tuesday, Biden suggested that he believed Putin to be rational overall but questioned the language used when announcing the invasion of Ukraine back in February.
“If you listen to the speech he made after, when, that decision was being made, he talked about the whole idea of – he needed to be the leader of Russia that united all of Russian speakers. I mean, it’s just, I just think it’s irrational,” Biden said.
Energy exports appear to be helping Russia ride out western sanctions, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) saying on Tuesday a recession would be less severe than expected due to oil exports and relatively stable domestic demand.
Moscow has said inflation is easing and employment is virtually full, contradicting the predictions of many financial experts.
The IMF forecast the Russian economy to contract just 3.4% over the whole year. In June the IMF predicted an annual drop of 6%.
At crisis talks on Tuesday, G7 leaders avoided imposing a price cap on Russian oil –the country’s largest source of income.
THE GUARDIAN
Sri Lanka’s medium grown tea prices fall in September
Sri Lanka’s low priced medium grown tea prices fell in September fourth week sale to 1,358.97 rupees a kilogram, from 1,40.6.80 rupees per kilogram in the previous week, Ceylon Tea Brokers data showed.
In the last week of September, medium grown averaged at 3.74 dollars a kilogram down from 3.88 a week earlier.
In Sri Lanka Mercantilists and soft peggers usually claim that inflation comes from imported prices. However, prices of all traded goods, whether imported or exported go up when the central bank prints money to depreciate the currency.
Global prices also go up in dollar terms (commodity booms) when the US Federal Reserve prints money. At the moment commodity prices are booming due to the so-called ‘Powell Bubble’ the worst since the Greenspan-Bernanke bubble which broke in 2008/2009.
At the September 30 sale auction, the Low Grown leafy/Tippy variety had seen a drop in demand selling only 2.0 million kilograms.
The Ceylon Tea Brokers auction statement shows that tea prices across all elevations have fallen between 100 to 200 rupees.Low Grown attract the highest prices for Ceylon Tea.
In the September 4th week auction, the Low Grown Tea sale average was 1,774.30 rupees, up from 1,754.66 rupees in the previous week.
In dollar terms, it had moved up to 4.89 dollars per kilogram, from 4.84 dollars in the previous week. BOP1’s all better types declined. Poorer sorts were marginally dearer.
OP1’s Select best were lower whilst below best varieties were maintained. Poorer sorts were
firm to dearer.
OP’s well-made varieties were barely steady, whilst below best maintained. Others and bottom were fully firm to dearer.
OPA’s select best together with best OPAs irregularly lower whilst below best and poorer types fully firm to dearer.
FBOP/FBOP1’s Select best and best had a sharp decline whilst others held firm.BOP’s All types were lower to last.BOPF’s All round lower market. FBOPF/FBOPF1’s Select best and best had a sharp decline, whilst others held firm
The High Grown auction average was 1,523.41, up from 1,519.95 rupees.In BOP, Best Westerns were firm. Below best were firm to Rs.50/- per kg lower. Plainer types too followed a similar trend.
Nuwara-Eliya’s remained firm. Uda Pussellawa’s were irregular. Uva’s maintained.In BOPF, Best Westerns sold around last. Below best Plainer teas maintained. Hardly any offerings
from Nuwara Eliya’s. Uda Pussellawa’s firm to marginally easier. Uva’s maintained.
The elevation has experienced heavy rains in the past week. The Medium Grown auction average for the week was 1,358.97 rupees down from 1,406.80 rupees a week before.
This week, BOPF’s Cleaner types maintained whilst all others declined..In BOP1, Select best, best and the below best declined by Rs.100/- per kg whilst the Plainer teas lower by Rs.50/- per kg.
A new Deputy Governor appointed for the Central Bank of Sri Lanka
Mrs. K.M.N. Daulagala has been appointed as the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
She previously served as the Assistant Governor of the Central Bank and as the Secretary of the Monetary Board.
A country’s security is not only militarily but economic and food security as well – President
Ready to intervene at any time to ensure food and economic security
A country’s security is not only ensured militarily but is also secured through food and economic security, President Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasised.
The President said this during the progress review meeting of the National Food Security and Nutrition Assurance Program held at the Presidential Secretariat this morning (11).
Emphasizing that urgent measures should be taken to provide the country with fuel and food, the President said that if necessary, he could intervene through state security regulations.
The President also noted that if the implementation of the food security and nutrition assurance program is hampered due to the collapse of the state machinery, he is ready to intervene at any moment to resolve these issues.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe also pointed out the need to modernize agriculture and enact legislation on food security through this program.
The multi-sectoral joint mechanism to empower rural economic revitalization centres to ensure food security and nutrition was recently implemented across the island under the theme “No citizen should be allowed to starve due to the lack of food”, on the directives of President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Also, the progress of the program at the district level was examined during this discussion and it was stated that rural economic revitalization committees have been established at the village level in all districts and programs have been initiated to ensure food security and nutrition.
Discussions also centred on the issues that could arise during the cultivation process in the relevant districts, while special attention was placed on the supply of fertilizer, land issues, unavailability of seeds and the crop damage caused by wild animals.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe stated that measures have been taken to solve these problems in consultation with the relevant institutions and instructed the authorities to expedite the process of resolving the issues that further remain to be resolved.
Having paid attention to the progress presented by the district secretaries about the implementation of the program in each district the President informed the officials to identify separately the crop cultivations done at the rural level to create food security and to identify the areas suffering from food shortages and submit a report on the matter immediately.
Based on this information, the President also directed the officials to implement a food bank and community kitchen programs to cover every district under the leadership of the District Secretaries.
Further, the President instructed the relevant departments to continue implementing this program until 2023, mustering the contribution of all the government officials, armed forces, civil defence force, government and non-governmental organizations, to ensure the nutritional needs of the people and to prepare for the world economic crisis that may occur in the future, through this programme.
The President further stated that after 03 weeks, a report on the progress of this program should be sent to the Cabinet every week.
Speaking at this discussion, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena pointed out the need to speed up the provision of land for new cultivators and follow a formal system for it.
He also noted that the upcoming rainy season is conducive to cultivation and highlighted the importance of educating the people at the rural level on engaging in agricultural activities without delay.
Cabinet and State Ministers including Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Senior Advisor to the President on National Security and Chief Staff of the President Sagala Ratnayake, Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake, Senior Advisor to the President on Food Safety Dr Suren Batagoda and government officials including Secretaries of the line Ministries and District Secretaries participated in this discussion.
President Media Division (PMD)
11-10-2022
Sri Lanka to seek eligibility for IDA loans while remaining as a middle-income country
The government stated that Sri Lanka will remain a middle-income country.
Sri Lanka no longer qualifies for International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) loans due to a downgrade of the country’s credit rating.
Therefore, the Cabinet approved a proposal yesterday (10) to request the World Bank to grant the country eligibility to obtain loans offered by the International Development Association (IDA).
This is with the aim of obtaining concessionary funding from the International Development Association (IDA) — an arm of the World Bank that helps the world’s vulnerable countries. This facility is called “Gap”.
Twelve countries including Indonesia have availed themselves of this facility when they were facing economic downturn similar to Sri Lanka. The Government is pursuing a “reverse graduation” policy for a limited period of time.
President Media Division (PMD)
11.10.2022
SRI LANKA ORIGINAL NARRATIVE SUMMARY: 12/10
- Cabinet spokesman says Cabinet approved Sri Lanka’s “downgrade” from middle-income to a low-income country: President’s Office says Sri Lanka will remain a middle-income country, and that the Government is pursuing a temporary “reverse graduation” policy.
- Foreign Minister Ali Sabry admits full responsibility for the “debt default” done when he was Finance Minister: says “world renowned experts” Indrajith Coomaraswamy, Shantha Devarajan and Shamalee Cooray advised President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and him to announce the default early, so that the default would then not be a “hard” default.
- Permanent High Court at Bar orders release of former CB Governor Arjuna Mahendran and 9 others from charges in the first Treasury Bond case: states the charges cannot be continued under the Public Properties Act: majority verdict issued by Judges Sanjeewa Morais, Damith Thotawatte and Namal Ballale.
- High profile business woman Thilini Priyamali accused of defrauding people and misappropriating millions of rupees, in a well publicised “fraud case” involving many famous persons.
- Federation of Health Professionals warn of trade union action if the retirement age limit is extended only for one particular profession in the health service.
- Rs.1 bn worth of cheques returned on a daily basis on average in 2Q22: rise of 30% compared to 1Q22, with the economy contracting by 8.4% in 2Q22.
- Chamber of Construction Industry Sri Lanka Past President Engineer Ranjith Gunathilake states the construction industry will never move forward when interest rates are at 28-30%: also says people don’t use their money for development purposes and industry workers are out of work.
- United Nations’ Development Programme estimates Sri Lanka and 53 other countries which account for more than half of the world’s poorest people, need immediate debt relief to avoid even more extreme poverty and heightened impacts of climate change.
- Transport Minister Dr Bandula Gunawardane says “digital” driving licences will be issued due to lack of materials to print new driver’s licences: also says the situation will ease by the end of the year.
- State Finance Minister Shehan Semasinghe and CB Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasingh meet IMF Deputy MD Gita Gopinath in Washington: it’s now 7 months since Sri Lanka sought IMF assistance: during that period all bridging finance has also stopped completely.
Laugfs gas prices reduced
Laugfs Gas Company has taken steps to reduce the price of domestic gas cylinders with effect from yesterday (11).
Accordingly, the company has reduced the price of a 12.5 kg gas cylinder by 500 rupees.
The new price of a 12.5 kg Laugfs gas cylinder is Rs 5300 which was Rs 5800 till now.
Also, the company has taken steps to reduce the price of 5 kg gas cylinder by 200 rupees.
The new price of that gas cylinder which was Rs 2320 so far is Rs 2120.