The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) will be halted and closed for the rest of the day, as set out in SEC directive date 30th April 2020.
This is mainly due to the Standards and Poor’s Sri Lanka 20 (S&P SL20) index’s dropping of over 10 per cent and the All Share Price Index’s (ASPI) dropping of over 09 per cent from the previous close.
MIAP
The strike action launched by school teachers and principals is 100 per cent successful and a large-scale strike action endorsed by trade unions of all sectors will be called in on April 28, should the government fail to understand the demand, said Joseph Stalin, Secretary of the Ceylon Teachers Union, speaking to a briefing today (25).
On one hand the government attempts to stay in power by changing Cabinet and committing murder and on the other the people are in a deep crisis, he noted, adding that the voice of the people should be listened to now given that the government failed to reduce the cost of living of the people amid the current situation.
MIAP
ASK
It is a shame that the Rajapaksa family is still in power despite the people calling for them to step down, said former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, responding to a journalist yesterday (24).
Q: Mr. Mahinda goes on saying that he won’t resign. Even if another government is formed, he’s going to keep his premiership and administer it.
“More the greediness of him. On one hand he may fear that they will be imprisoned for their crimes upon the coming of another government. On the other, to destroy more. It is never enough for the Rajapaksas. Shame! Despite the people’s calling for them to step down, they still hang on.”
MIAP
As of April 21, 2022, the annual inflation in Sri Lanka is at a sky-high of 119 percent, revealed Hanke’s Inflation Dashboard by Prof. Steve Hanke, an economist at the Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
Accordingly, Sri Lanka has the third highest inflation in the world, while Zimbabwe marks an annual inflation of 207% ranking first and Lebanon an annual inflation of 150% ranking second.
Prof. Hanke said in a tweet that Sri Lanka needs to establish a currency board as it had from 1884 until 1950 to crush inflation and save the value of the Rupee.
However, certain economic analysts in Sri Lanka disagree with the statistics revealed in the Hanke’s Inflation Dashboard, questioning its parameters.
MIAP
The price of imported milk powder will increase again by the end of the week warned the Milk Powder Importers’ Association.
The price of imported milk powder may be increased as per the discretion of the importers given that the government has lifted the control price imposed on milk powder, said Union Spokesman Asoka Bandara, adding that up to which extent should the price be soared, nevertheless, cannot be predicted at this moment.
However, market sources claimed that any soaring of milk powder price will exceed the price of a 400g milk powder packet over Rs. 1000.
MIAP
The demand management schedule for power in the country from April 25 to April 27 has been released.
Accordingly, a power cut of three hours is likely to occur in many areas of the country.
MIAP
Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Dr. Rajitha Senaratne speaking to a SJB rally yesterday (24) stated that an initial agreement was made with the MP group who claims themselves to have left the government and become independent regarding the no confidence motion.
“They have become so vulnerable that even the meeting called in by the Prime Minister himself to support him was attended by only 88 MPs. About 70 MPs did not even bother to attend the meeting to support the Prime Minister. That is the situation now. Now, a no-confidence motion will be tabled in Parliament against this government. We talked to the parties independent of the government and agreed to the final draft yesterday. We have more than 113 signatures. Therefore, this government will stay in power only for a few days. When I see you again, we have already formed a government, may you keep that in mind. Our initial stance was that although we give in to overthrowing the governments, we make no involvement in forming a government. Because it might have not been possible to form a government with these people of diverse opinions. But finally we are reaching a common ground where we can contribute to forming a government. Because they say that they will not involve otherwise. Therefore, they say that we should form a government after this event.”
MIAP
Prime Minister has reportedly launched a programme to measure the 113-majority in Parliament by collecting signatures of MPs favouring the Ruling Party.
The programme was undertaken at the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Headquarters in Nelum Mawatha, Baththaramulla since yesterday (24) morning.
However, he has managed to collect less than 113 signatures, sources said.
A previous meeting attended by the Ruling Party MPs to unanimously approve a motion to support Mahinda Rajapaksa managed to collect only 88 MPs.
MIAP
Former Prime Minister and Leader of the United National Party (UNP) Ranil Wickremesinghe speaking to media yesterday (24) said the contribution of the youth of this country would be very important in seeking solutions to the prevailing economic crisis.
“This matter should be resolved within Parliament itself. Parliament should take the fiscal power and six working committees should be appointed to carry this out. These six committees should invite three youths each, an assembly of 200 – 300 members from youth organisations should be formed, that assembly should be convened once every three months, and that youth voice should be given the opportunity to decide the method in which that youth membership is elected. Having those ideas, the decisions can be made in Parliament.”
MIAP
France’s presidential election: The second round in detail
mmanuel macron won the second and final round of France’s presidential election on April 24th, taking a projected 59% of the vote against Marine Le Pen’s 41%. He is the country’s first leader to be re-elected since Jacques Chirac, a Gaullist, in 2002, and the first to have governed with a parliamentary majority in his first term and then to win re-election since the fifth republic was established by Charles De Gaulle in 1958.
The result represents another repudiation of Ms Le Pen’s nationalist populism. The margin of victory, however, is smaller than in 2017, when the two also went head-to-head and Mr Macron triumphed with 66% of the vote.
Mr Macron’s votes were again concentrated in urban areas: he won landslides in cities including Lyon, Paris and Toulouse, and also did well in the north-west. He picked up support from left-leaning cities, even those in the south-west that had supported the radical-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the first round. Ms Le Pen performed strongly in poorer, more rural areas and in regions of industrial decline in the north and east, as well as in her party’s traditional stronghold in the south-east, where worries about immigration are strong and a large retired population tends to vote on the right.