All banks & the Colombo Stock Exchange will be closed on Monday (10) in lieu of the bank holiday falling on Sunday (09)
SRI LANKA ORIGINAL NARRATIVE SUMMARY: 08/10
- World Bank says SL faces unsustainable debt and severe balance of payment crisis: also says it will have a negative impact on growth and poverty: warns implementation of a structural reform program is critical for economic stabilisation.
- Supreme Court grants “leave to proceed” in FR petitions filed by Transparency International and others regarding economic crisis: orders Auditor General to submit report on Monetary Board’s decisions regarding Rupee value, seeking IMF assistance, and settlement of ISBs: also directs Auditor General to submit Reports on Financial and Debt management.
- Colombo Lotus Tower and “Singapore Go Bungy” sign contract to start “bungee jumping” for the first time in Sri Lanka: jump from the Lotus Tower to be the world’s highest bungee jump.
- Government denies that notorious drug kingpin Nadun Chinthaka Wickramarathna alias “Harak Kata”, who was in the custody of Dubai Police was released due to the Defence Ministry’s delay in submitting file from Colombo to Dubai.
- CPC oil refinery to close from today: crude oil shipment delayed because of Forex shortage: order placed for 3 shipments but payments made only for 2: Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera says there’s no reason to panic as there are sufficient stocks.
- CB Governor Dr Nandalal Weerasinghe says business community is not affected by high interest
rates: asserts finance cost of a business is at most 10% only: 3 month T-Bill rates are now over 32% per annum. - Parliament debate on the 2nd reading of the 22nd Amendment Bill to Constitution to be on 20th and 21st October: dates agreed at the Consultative Committee on Parliamentary Affairs.
- Colombo Stock Exchange marks 3rd consecutive week of losses and highest in recent times: investor sentiment tumbles on macro issues: ASPI down 8.9%: daily turnover averages Rs.2.9 bn.
- August imports at USD 1.48 bn hit 4-month high: marks 4th consecutive monthly gain despite restrictions and forex crisis: however, YoY, imports down by 12%.
- CB Governor Dr Nandalal Weerasinghe refuses to give dates or particulars regarding IMF staff level agreement: says he is maintaining ‘radio silence’: also says discussions are going on with creditors.
A presidential election to be held next year?
Sources say that President Ranil Wickramasinghe is focused on holding a presidential election next year (2023).
Political sources stated that several rounds of discussions have already been held regarding the legal conditions and other related requirements.
It was also reported that the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna will not field a candidate for that presidential election.
Accordingly, it is said that President Ranil Wickramasinghe and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa will compete as the two main candidates.
Sources also said that Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna leader Mr. Anura Kumara Dissanayake and 43rd division leader Mr. Patali Champika Ranawaka will also appear as other main candidates for the presidential election.
An Acting Chief Justice to be appointed
The Parliamentary Assembly has agreed to the recommendation made by the President to appoint Supreme Court Judge President’s Advocate BP Aluvihare to oversee the work of the Chief Justice.
This appointment is made as the Chief Justice, President’s Advocate Mr. Jayantha Jayasuriya is scheduled to go abroad from 08.10.2022 to 13.10.2022.
Namal appointed to a committee on the formulation of policies
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Member of Parliament Namal Rajapaksa has been appointed as the chairman of the National Assembly sub-committee on identifying priorities in the formulation of short, medium and long-term policies.
That was when the sub-committee met yesterday (07) at the Parliament complex.
Namal Rajapaksa’s name has been proposed by Sagara Kariyawasam for the post of Chairman and it has been confirmed by Ali Sabry Rahim.
All the members have agreed to call the experts in the fields related to public administration, health policies, education policies, fisheries and food policies, electricity and energy policies, climate change policies and entrepreneurship policies to get ideas and proposals for the modernization of the sub-committee.
It is stated that the members have agreed to submit short term proposals within one month, medium term proposals within two months and long term proposals within three months.
A/L and scholarship exams postponed
In the year 2022, the government has decided to postpone the dates of the GCE A/L examination and Grade 5 scholarship examination.
All arrangements were made to hold the Grade 5 scholarship examination on 04th December and GCE A/L examination from 05th December.
However, after extensive consideration of the requests received from students and public representatives regarding the postponement of the examination, it was decided to postpone the dates of the GCE A/L examination and Grade 5 scholarship examination in the year 2022.
Accordingly, the revised dates are as follows.
2022 Grade 5 Scholarship Examination on Sunday 18 December 2022
2022 GCE A/L Examination from 23rd January to 17th February 2023
OPEC+ production cuts could scuttle SL’s hopes for further reduction in fuel prices
Sri Lanka’s hopes for lower oil prices at the pump could face hurdles, as the members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its Russia-led allies, a group collectively known as OPEC+, decided on what analysts called “a monster cut” to oil production to stabilize the global oil prices, which have been falling for months.
The OPEC+ finance ministers gathered in person for the first time in more than two years at its headquarters in Vienna, Austria, yesterday and decided to slash oil production by two million barrels a day, the biggest cut since the start of the pandemic.
The global oil prices have fallen 32 percent in the last four months, after going above US $ 100 a barrel in the first half of the year, most of which was caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
However, the prices made an about turn since June, on worries over the health of the global economy after global central banks, with the exception of China and Japan, quickened their pace of rate increases to tame decades-high inflation, which could tip most world economies either into recessions or significant slowdowns.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development last week trimmed its global economic growth outlook to 2.2 percent in 2023, from an earlier projection of 2.8 percent, on concerns of tightening monetary policy by the advanced economies to fight inflation.
These worries sent the international benchmark Brent crude prices below US $ 83 a barrel last week for the first time since January, causing concerns for the major oil producers, specially Saudi Arabia.
However, Brent has been rising since October 3 to trade above US $ 91.00 a barrel, before the OPEC+ meeting got underway on expectations of a production cut.
After a bumper hike delivered in June for oil at the pump, when the country was facing acute shortages of fuel, Sri Lanka a few days ago reduced the prices by Rs.40.0 and Rs.70.0 each for a litre of Octane 92 and Octane 95 petrol, respectively for the second time, under a cost-reflective price formula put in place
in June.
Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara speaking in Parliament expressed hope for further reduction in retail prices by at least another Rs.40.00 a litre on petrol in the next two weeks, on the easing of global crude and refined oil prices.
However, since last week, the global prices have increased substantially and the production cuts could further push the prices higher, scuttling such plans to reduce the retail prices.
Nevertheless, there are some tensions within the oil cartel on the move to cut production as some members such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait are worried that the long-term curbs would damage their plans to increase production, as the UAE had already invested tens of billions of dollars in expanding its capacity.
In any case, the rising oil prices could inflict further pain on Sri Lanka, which is facing severe balance of payment troubles, due to the severe shortage of foreign currency, as it has been barely managing the situation through rationing fuel at the pump since late July.
Australia supports Sri Lanka to identify root causes of food losses in the country
Efforts are underway to identify the root causes of food losses in Sri Lanka, with the support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIRA), so that the local authorities are able to address the issue and create a new economic value chain.
Joining hands to help design and demonstrate affordable technologies and organisational options to mitigate these losses are also the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) and the Agricultural Sector of the National Planning Department.
The key partners of the project also include the University of Peradeniya, University of Wayamba and Open University of Sri Lanka. A similar effort will also take place for Pakistan under the project.
The stakeholders of the project pointed out that the ground observations and investigations point to a lack of quality and food safety awareness across the fresh fruit and vegetable value chains.
The poor knowledge in this regard hinders the achievement of inclusive growth, food security and national goals, they pointed out.
The project, over the next three years, aims to make practice change attractive across primary production to processing and retail stages by demonstrating opportunities to reduce costs, increase market value and improve business competitiveness.
ACIRA Canberra Programme Manager Agribusiness Howard Hall shared that while progress toward modern food systems in both Pakistan and Sri Lanka are improving, the gap between the desired change and current practices remains large.
Bridging the gap requires working more closely with chain partners, prioritizing ways to remove barriers and making practice change worthwhile.
“Extending such an approach can help farmers gain more stable incomes, adapt to change, including that of climate, increase investment in modern value chains and improve food quality and diversity for consumers.
The ensuring reduction in waste and food loss will improve the environment and decrease the cost for stakeholders,” Hall told the project inception workshop held yesterday.
The agri project that will be rolled out will specifically focus on the tomato and mango value chain to identify key value chain practices that contribute to food loss and value depletion.
It will also explore the emerging trends and contextual factors in the operating environment of these chains, including climate change and COVID-19 implications.
The main accomplishment of the project will be its hands-on approach to improved business practices and recommendations that will lead to the continued adoption of improved business strategies and commercial arrangements to achieve food loss abatement.
SL seeks concessional financing from Intl. Dev. Assn :President
Sri Lanka has sought the assistance of the International Development Association to get concessional financing as the nation can no longer afford commercial borrowings, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said today.
“We have requested the International Development Association to assist us to get concessional financing as Sri Lanka currently lacks credit worthiness to borrow on market terms from World Bank or any other institution.
Countries such as Egypt had followed a similar strategy when their nation suffered economic downturn in the past,” the President said while making a special statement in Parliament.
“We also seek US$ 1 to 2 billion as bridge financing from institutions such as Asian Development Bank and World Bank. We have already in a position to get US$ 500 million from ADB,” the President said.
“Sri Lanka’s economy will recover by the end 2023 while the rupee would also stabilize by that time. However we have to take steps by informing the public on the status of the nation. We will have to stop printing money.
However it has been possible to steady the inflation and keep it at 69.7% in September. However it is essential to restructure state enterprises which run at a loss.
Total losses of state enterprises such as Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and Srilankan Airlines will exceed Rs. 4,000 billion by the end of this year.
The government cannot make the people bear this huge burden anymore. We have already embarked on restructuring these enterprises,” he stressed.
“We also have to increase the tax revenue to 14% of GDP. It is currently 8% of the GDP,” he said.
Focusing on his recent foreign tours, the President said he strove to get maximum benefit for Sri Lanka during the meetings he had, “
He said that he strove to get maximum benefit to Sri Lanka by meeting state leaders from UK, Japan and the Philippines, representatives from international organizations and foreign ministers. It is less time-consuming and cost effective to meet world leaders that way.
An activist of the Inter-University Students’ Federation held under PTA, released
Hashan Jeevantha, an activist of the Inter-University Students’ Federation, who was arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and detained under detention orders, has been released today (07).
That is through the recall of the relevant detention order by President Ranil Wickramasinghe on the recommendation of Public Security Minister Tiran Alas.
50 days ago, Hashan Jeevantha was arrested and on the same day the convener of the Inter-University Student Council Wasantha Mudalige, and Galwewa Siridhamma Thero were also arrested.
Among them, the police had completed the investigations related to Hashan Jeevantha and it was revealed that there was no evidence against him.
Accordingly, Public Security Minister Tiran Alas had recommended to the President to recall the detention order issued against him and the order has been recalled by now.
The Ministry of Public Security stated that Hashan was presented alive today (07) to the forensic medical officer, brought before the Tangalle Magistrate and handed over to his father.