Container transport vehicles have reportedly dropped themselves out from service due to the fuel crisis. Less than 500 transport vehicles have been added to today’s operations, said the United Lanka Container Transport Vehicle Owners Association.
More than 6,000 vehicles are used daily to transport containers carrying commodities exported and imported, and accordingly, less than 10 per cent of container vehicles are in operation today.
The Union alleged that despite the government’s announcement on providing enough fuel for their vehicles, there is no proper programme implemented for the purpose. Should the government fail to implement an acceptable programme, the container trucks that are currently in operation will also have to be withdrawn, it added.
In any event were the container trucks taken out from operation, it will have a direct impact on the country’s export activities and all transportation activities, including the transportation of imported essential foods.
The newborn baby of the woman who was hospitalised due to going into labour while waiting in a passport queue for two days has died, due to low birth weight.
She was staying near the Battaramulla Immigration and Emigration Office with her husband to collect her passport for two days, after which she had gone into labour and was admitted to the hospital.
The woman is in good health, according to reports.
Colombo, Sri Lanka(CNN)Sri Lanka is “bankrupt,” Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said Tuesday, as the country suffers its worst financial crisis in decades, leaving millions struggling to buy food, medicine and fuel.
Wickremesinghe told lawmakers that negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive the country’s “collapsed” economy are “difficult,” because the South Asian nation of 22 million has entered the talks as a bankrupt country, rather than a developing one.
“We are now participating in the negotiations as a bankrupt country. Therefore, we have to face a more difficult and complicated situation than previous negotiations,” Wickremesinghe said in parliament.
“Due to the state of bankruptcy our country is in, we have to submit a plan on our debt sustainability to (the IMF) separately,” he added. “Only when they are satisfied with that plan can we reach an agreement at the staff level. This is not a straightforward process.”
Sri Lanka is in the midst of its worst financial crisis in seven decades, after its foreign exchange reserves plummeted to record lows, with dollars running out to pay for essential imports including food, medicine and fuel.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa tweeted Wednesday that he had sought assistance from Russian President Vladimir Putin and requested “an offer of credit support to import fuel.”
In several major cities, including Sri Lanka’s commercial capital, Colombo, hundreds continue to queue for hours to buy fuel, sometimes clashing with police and the military as they wait. Schools have been suspended and fuel has been limited to essential services.
On Sunday Sri Lanka’s energy minister, Kanchana Wijesekera, said the country had less than a day’s worth of fuel left.
“In terms of fuel and food, our country was going to have to face this crisis at some point in time. Fuel was scarce. Food prices went up,” he said, adding international crises like Russia’s war in Ukraine have made things worse.
“Due to the recent global crises, this situation has become more acute and we who were in the frying pan fell into the oven,” Wijesekera said.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said he hoped that a report on debt restructuring and sustainability would be submitted to the IMF by August. Once there is an agreement, a comprehensive loan assistance program would be prepared for a period of four years, Wickremesinghe said.
His speech in parliament was interrupted by opposition lawmakers chanting cries of “Gota go Home” — a reference to the president, who was in attendance. Rajapaksa was seen leaving the building amid exclamations.
For months, large numbers of Sri Lankans have been calling for Rajapaksa to resign over accusations of economic mismanagement.
Wickremesinghe said that by the end of this year, inflation will rise to 60%.
“This will be a difficult and bitter journey,” Wickremesinghe said. “But we can get relief at the end of this journey. Progress can be made.”
The British government said on Tuesday it is now advising against all but essential travel to Sri Lanka due to the impact of the economic crisis. CNN’s Jessie Yeung contributed reporting.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed he is leaving office a short while ago, following many cabinet appointments calling for him to resign.
Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, who was given the job two days ago, said the situation was “not sustainable and will only get worse”.
And Education Secretary Michelle Donelan quit, saying Mr Johnson had “put us in an impossible situation”.
Johnson earlier insisted he has a “colossal mandate to keep going” and therefore will not resign.
The wave of resignations from the government and party exceeded 50 on Thursday, as Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis became the first cabinet member of the day to quit, quickly followed by seven other ministers.
Previously loyal supporters – including Priti Patel and Grant Shapps – urged him to step down on Wednesday.
A pregnant woman who visited the Battaramulla Office of the Department of Immigration and Emigration to obtain a passport has given birth to a child upon being hospitalised after two days of waiting in the queue.
This 26-year-old mother, a resident of Hatton, went into labour while waiting in the passport queue and the Police and military officers who were on duty admitted her to the Soyza Women’s Hospital in Colombo.
Both the mother and the baby are in good health, reports said.
She visited the Dept Office with her husband to obtain a passport to travel abroad.
In the wake of the crisis situation in the country, court proceedings have been disrupted and the Judicial Service Commission, therefore, had decided to adjourn all hearings except those essential.
Despite the Commission’s decision, some of the judges have acted on continuing trials of cases considered to be non-essential. Accordingly, the Judicial Service Commission has decided to call in these judges and receive justifications from their end.
Via a circular issued by the Commission, ten magistrates and district judges have been ordered to report to the Commission and justify their actions.
Earlier, the Judicial Service Commission had informed via a circular that the court proceedings which had been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic should be continued without delay, but the decision was revised via another circular a week after upon consideration on the country’s prevailing crisis, concluding that only the essential cases should be heard.
Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves have dropped to US $ 1.9 billion at the end of June, 2022, revealed the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL). Of the reserves is US $ 1.5 billion received from a credit facility by China and accordingly the amount consumable is limited to US $ 400 million, the country’s central monetary hub revealed.
Due to the current financial crisis, the CBSL has decided to further tighten its fiscal policies, raising the fixed deposit facility rate to 14.5 per cent and the fixed loan facility rate to 15.5 per cent.
Inflation is likely to further soar in the future, but the CBSL emphasised that it will be taking measures to control inflation to the best of its capability.
Meanwhile, the country’s economic growth has dropped to 1.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2022, mainly due to the energy crisis.
Another person waiting in a fuel queue reportedly died.
The victim, 60 and a three-wheel driver in Moratuwa, was queuing up at a fuel station in Payagala and died of a sudden heart attack after being admitted to the Kalutara Teaching hospital.
The event occurred at 02.30 am this (07) morning, according to reports.
The Ministry of Technology and Investment Promotion has taken measures to streamline the investment approval process by eliminating the heavy paper work and filling of application forms with a view of attracting more Foreign Direct Investments into the country, a senior official of the ministry said.
Prompt action has been taken to remove obstacles and bureaucratic red tape in obtaining approval for foregn investment projects from the Board of Investment(BOI) and other relevant state institutions, he disclosed.
FDI application form with several pages to be filled by the prospective foreign investors has been reduced to single page from 14 pages with immediate effect and the approval will be given within 24 hours if they fulfill necessary requirements, he revealed.
It has been planned to simplify the rules and regulations of the investment approval process to overcome official red tape.
The new FDI online approval system has been devised on the directions of Minister Dhammika Perera, investment promotion ministry senior official said that the BOI will revitalise its status as the one stop shop for investment approval process, he added. .
An action plan will be implemented soon to ensure US $ 7 billion in annual local investment by 2025, $ 7 billion in annual Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by hesame year and , improve Sri Lanka’s rank in the Ease of Doing Business Index to 50 this year from 100 , and improve Sri Lanka’s rank in the Global Competitiveness Index to 45 from 85
The action plans include streamlining the investment approval process by reducing the number of pages in the investment application from 14 toone , providing a preliminary approval within 24 hours, and simplifying the rules and regulations of the investment approval process to overcome red tape.
Also, he suggested granting guaranteed tax benefits in agreement with the Board of Investment (BOI) for 25 years, to gain the competitive advantage of investing in Sri Lanka.
Some of the sectors that will be exempt from corporate tax, value-added tax, and dividend tax for 25 years under this proposal would be education, information services, air transport, and the manufacture of motor vehicles.
Additionally, Minister Dhammika Perera’s plans under the Technology Ministry include increasing ICT revenue from $ 1.2 billion to $ 5 billion by 2025, increasing ICT jobs from 80,000 employees to 400,000 employees by 2025, and transforming developed Sri Lanka into a “Smart Sri Lanka” in 2030.
Perera in his plan intends to develop Sri Lanka into a “Smart Sri Lanka” in three years and achieve the status of an emerging market by 2030 with the use of an AI-driven unified ICT platform for all public services.
Some of his focus areas include smart education, smart health, smart agriculture, smart transport, and smart tourism.
His targets for the private sector include a fourfold increase in ICT revenue from $ 1.2 billion to $ 5 billion by 2025, a fivefold increase in ICT jobs from 80,000 employees to 400,000 employees by 2025.
India is seeking payment in advance for supply of fuel to Sri Lanka after credit lines were exhausted, according to people with knowledge of the matter, official sources said.
The larger South Asian neighbor stopped supplying gasoline and diesel on credit after the island nation ran out of dollars to purchase fuels amid its worst economic crisis.
That’s holding up some fuel shipments pending cash payment by Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Petroleum Corp., according to two Indian government officials, who asked not to be identified citing rules.
Ceylon Petroleum’s cargo schedule tweeted by Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera showed at least four shipments of gasoline and diesel from state-run refiner Indian Oil Corp. are pending confirmation of advance payment. India has already extended over $3.5 billion of support to Sri Lanka in the last few months for food, medicines and fuel.
Sri Lanka, which has depleted its foreign exchange reserves, was hoping for a fresh approval from India of a $500 million credit line for fuel purchases. The island nation’s government has sent envoys to Qatar to secure fresh supplies and is also seeking oil from Russia.
A spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs didn’t have an immediate comment.
Indian Oil has delivered about 450,000 tons of gasoline and diesel to Ceylon Petroleum between March and June, according to a spokesperson for the company.
The fuel crisis has led to a shutdown of public schools and offices until July 10 to conserve fuel, even as thousands of vehicles continue to queue for miles waiting for filling stations to be replenished.
The bankrupt nation is offering a guaranteed fuel quota to companies that can pay dollars to Ceylon Petroleum Corporation in advance to ease the crippling shortages. It also plans to allow foreign companies to distribute fuel to help ease the crisis that has paralyzed most economic activity.
