August 22, Colombo (LNW): Prevailing showery condition over the island is expected to reduce from today (22), the Department of Meteorology said in its daily weather forecast today.
Several spells of showers will occur in Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya, Galle and Matara districts.
Showers or thundershowers will occur at a few places in Eastern and Uva Provinces during the evening or night.
Fairly strong winds about (30-40) kmph can be expected at times over Western slopes of the central hills and in Northern, North-central and North-western provinces and in Hambantota district.
The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimise damages caused by temporary localised strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
Marine Weather:
Condition of Rain:
Showers or thundershowers will occur at several places in the sea areas off the coast extending from Puttalam to Matara via Colombo and Galle. Showers or thundershowers will occur at a few places in the other sea areas around the island during the afternoon or night.
Winds:
Winds will be south-westerly and wind speed will be (30-40) kmph. Wind speed can increase up to (55–60) kmph at times in the sea areas off the coasts extending from Trincomalee to Puttalam via Kankasanthurai, Mannar and from Hambantota to Pottuvil. Wind speed can increase up to50 kmph at times in the sea areas off the coasts extending from Puttalam to Hambantota via Colombo and Galle.
State of Sea:
The sea areas off the coasts extending from Kankasanthurai to Puttalam via Mannar and from Hambantota to Pottuvil will be rough at times. The sea areas off the coasts extending from Puttalam to Hambantota via Colombo and Galle may be fairly rough at times. Temporarily strong gusty winds and very rough seas can be expected during thundershowers.
Its been quite a while, certainly over two years since I’ve been moved to put pen-to-paper like this for public consumption. Those who have followed my previous contributions may recall that I was a regular guest columnist and a frequent appearance on your screens in the late evenings but all of that came to almost a complete stop with the defeat of the UNP at the last General Election; I had literally given up, previously having worked with various civil society and pressure groups for almost three decades, trying to change the course of our Nation, I felt it was time to let-go and keep quiet. It was not only the massive loss the UNP suffered in 2020, when for the first time in my life I joined a Political Party to contest an election, under H.E. the incumbent President Wickramasinghe but also the disappointment of two previous attempts; in 2015 as a nominee professional on the JVP National List (which two seats we secured they decided to fill with defeated comrades) and then in 2019, when many of us civil activists got behind a common candidate, Gen. (Retd) Mahesh Senanayake encouraging the voters to shed party allegiances and get behind the professionals to build a new nation. We all know what happened, 6.9 million voters elected the “weda karana apei wiruwa” with an astounding majority (and the Wiruwa then abandoned ship and ran away) whilst the people didn’t even let our man muster 50K in total. Thus, it was that in complete disgust and utter frustration I resigned to my practice, recommenced my international work travelling regularly and tried to be content in my sulky corner; gave up watching local news, didn’t bother reading any papers and ran-away from any political discussion or dialogue, even at social occasions.
However, some of us do remain “Political Animals” as Aristotle expounds, it remains cancerously in our blood and the fever to make things better never goes down; I’ve diagnosed that this is indeed a terminal illness and the only remedy is to keep fighting the good fight until its time to meet your maker. It was thus when the Hon. Opposition Leader, whom I consider a friend, telephoned me in or around October or November 2021 I agreed to meet with him at his official residence. I found his sincerity far superior to my pride and he won me over instantly with his humility, offering me the olive branch that he bore no ill-feeling for my having declined his (SJB) invitation and contesting instead with the UNP; we left the bygones behind and I agreed to assist him as an advisor on legal / constitutional matters. This relationship was nothing new to me though, since for many years I have known and worked with Sajith, I knew him to be a few years my senior at S. Thomas’ Prep and we occasionally played guitar and sang together, sharing some fun in lighter vein at our annual Roy-Tho pilgrimage; but we also communicated with each other on more serious matters of State and Politics and I was always quick to offer my 2-cents worth with a quick message or call when needed and he always appreciated it.
So Why Sajith?
Its not for any of those reasons, for my friendship that I recently met Mr. Sajith Premadasa in Parliament and agreed to join his campaign, its because I cannot see anyone else matching that commitment for change with an equally ready qualified and passionate team that can get us out of where we are. It is as simple as that. If we don’t elect Mr. Sajith Premadasa to office as our 9th Executive President and immediately thereafter allow him to form a government made up of proven, eminently qualified, passionately committed and most importantly pristinely non-corrupt personnel, we will all be lamenting for years to come and our next generation, our kids will curse us!
Let me set down a few reasons for your consideration before I engage in the dialogue of why not his competitors: • Primarily I believe he is genuine and sincere in his declared passion for true change and that’s a darn good reason without anything more; • He has given priority to education as a means of empowering our future generations and that is what I’ve also committed a majority of my public service to; • He’s been well groomed under many leaders in Politics, including the incumbent H.E. the President when he was in the UNP and leadership is embedded in him with those years of gruelling experience; • He has shown through sheer committed service, even without governmental power that if one truly wants to serve, you will find a way to do it and to me that speaks volumes of the man (even if I don’t factor in my personal knowledge of his sincerity); • He manifests discipline, personal decorum and the highest standards of political behaviour and etiquette and I have never seen him to sling cheap-mud at his opponents, we really need to get this through to those who come forward to serve us as our representatives; • He has got the team to deliver – all one needs is to compare the mammoth bank of experts, professionals and proven leaders across a spectrum of vocations, trades or enterprise who are already flanking him and gathering by the day and I pose the question, which other prospective “team captain” can boast of such a crème-da-la-crème that almost spoils him for choice; • He has a plan – whilst others are making wild promises in usual Sri Lankan fashion as to what they “will do” when (that is if) they make it to office, Sajith and the SJB have a clear and workable plan with full knowledge of the very challenging mission at hand, with our country tethering on the edges of economic bankruptcy and a clear vision on how to save us.
I do not mince my words when I say this – take it from me, with our country where it is at present, if we miss the bus this time, we have certainly lost out on the whole journey and the sure end will be a very steep and insurmountable precipice!
Why Not Anura?
Perish the thought that these are “sour grapes” since my (former) comrade Anura K. Dissanayake didn’t include me in his Parliamentary Group in 2015, after I won my National List seat; this has nothing to do with it as I believe (he has also stated it publicly) that we remain friends, I maintain very cordial relations with many former comrades of the JVP from that campaign and even some of their re-launched NPP. I concede that AKD is a very attractive public speaker and can draw mass crowds, we did the same in 2015 too when we secured 06 seats (including our 02 National List) in Parliament, which they managed to reduce to 03 seats at the next election (2020) even under the relaunched NPP banner; but being a good stage-speaker alone is no criterion to handover the reigns of a nation, particularly when we are tethering for sheer survival and do not have the luxury to experiment with untested individuals.
Has AKD to date pronounced the members of his future Cabinet? Surely he can’t handle all the portfolios by himself; other than the public pronouncement that a future NPP Cabinet will be limited to 25 heads have they placed before the public any possible name of a single suitor to such office? Are we then to speculate that once elected AKD will suddenly pull out a dream-team magically? The simple response is that on all relative scales AKD led NPP cannot even come close to the bank of proven professionals and experts that Sajith has at hand in the SJB; that is the reality and we need to see this very soon before we make a drastic mistake of listening to our hearts instead of our heads!
Why Not RW?
Admittedly he is the most senior in the race but he unfortunately, my former Party Leader (at the last 2020 election) comes with way too much baggage that nullifies his very presence as a candidate. Is it not utterly ridiculous that one of the oldest Political Parties (if not the) in our country is struggling to field their candidate from that party and the household “elephant” symbol and he has had to rely on a “gas cylinder” to try and remind the people of our fuel crisis?
I vividly recall a very interesting conversation from an elderly lady, a die-hard UNP’er from my Moratuwa electorate at the last election. She told me (in Singhalese which translated meant) that she had decided not to vote for me or the UNP, due to her anger with RW; but when she went into the polling booth and saw the elephant on the ballot paper, she just didn’t have the heart to vote for any other symbol, so she crossed that box and gave me one preference vote (not for any other). Now this is the sentiment of the traditional UNP voter and they will never stand this nonsense of RW shedding the Party for anticipated political gain from the SLPP; which is now denied to H.E. President Wickramasinghe in any event, with the young Namal Rajapakse joining the fray.
Although RW has picked the gas-cylinder for obvious advertising reasons, to remind us of the “aragalaya” days and he now proclaims to be the saviour of the economy, we all know this not to be true; factually we are now in deeper debt than before and all that accumulated debt when we declared a sovereign default remains to be settled. All he actually managed was to realign the balance of payments between imports and exports by sharp increases in pricing, thereby reducing consumption and not servicing our debt (suspending capital and interest repayments); you are obviously going to show a surplus. However, this burden remains for the next government to grapple with. RW also wants us to continue the status quo and permit him to continue but those around him are the same rogues that led his predecessor up the garden path, until he gave up and ran away!
Why Not Young Namal?
I am personally (as an old Thomian) elated that we have two of “our lot” running for the Head of Government in our Republic, my friend Sajith (from Prep School) and my young learned-friend Namal from a much later era; surely our forefathers like mahamanya DS Senanayake, Dudley Senanayake, SWRD Bandaranaike and W. Dahanayake, all who were groomed at our school-by-the-sea to assume leadership of the nation must be proud!
Namal does show signs of a mature young leader than what we saw as he entered politics, the exuberance of youth appear to have left him and I was particularly impressed with a dialogue I watched on TV recently; but he has more time and this is far too early for him to assume the reigns of the top job, I wish him well for the future sincerely. He also needs to distance himself from that “Rajapakse tagline” that many around him appear to be promoting him with, that sort of politics will not run for long my young friend, certainly not beyond the tenure of your senior (and father) for whom some, including myself, are still grateful for the leading us to the end of a bloody and useless war that sucked the very lifeblood out of our nation for three decades; but now we need to move beyond, reach reconciliation and think-anew as one united Sri Lanka.
My Prediction & the Future:
Mr. Sajith Premadasa, MP, the Hon. Leader of the Opposition is leading the race in all the pre-election polls and reviews and he will most certainly reach the goal, there may not be a need for a second preference count; however the challenge my friend lies beyond that victory.
We must quickly finish a simple celebration, which I very sincerely wish for you, to see you as our 9th Executive President but then we have a lot of work to do in re-building our nation! We need to get some good, non-corrupt and hard-working teams together in the various fields as we form a new government led by you, appeal to the People to join and work with us and start the hard and gruelling tasks ahead of us; laying brick-by-brick, firmly from the foundation upwards, cleaning up the muck and negativity that has pulled us down thus far, until we take our People to the promised land, the land that flows with milk and honey that has been assured to all Sri Lankans by our forefathers!
To that end I leave this city now and get on an aeroplane in the next few hours, to help and assist in that mammoth challenge ahead of us, in any way that I can – #2GetherVcan
August 21, Colombo (LNW): The Embassy of Indonesia, together with the Indonesian community in Sri Lanka, celebrated the 79th Independence Day with a flag-hoisting ceremony at the Embassy premises on Saturday (17th). The celebration was highlighted by the Indonesian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Dewi Gustina Tobing, and the Indonesian community cutting the anniversary cake.
August 21, Colombo (LNW): US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, International Environmental, and Scientific Affairs, Jennifer Littlejohn, is currently on an official visit to Sri Lanka. During her stay, she is expected to hold discussions with Sri Lankan officials and partners, focusing on U.S.-supported wildlife protection projects. The visit began with US Ambassador in Colombo, Julie Chung, greeting Littlejohn.
August 21, Colombo (LNW): Sources reported that former President Maithripala Sirisena has paid Rs. 100 million in compensation, as mandated by the Supreme Court, to the victims of the Easter Sunday bomb attacks. This payment was credited to the “Easter Attack April 2019 – Victim Fund” at the Office for Reparations Sri Lanka on August 16.
The Supreme Court had previously ordered Sirisena, along with other officials, including former IGP Pujith Jayasundera, to compensate the victims for their failure to prevent the attacks. In July, the former President had already paid Rs. 58 million in compensation to the victims.
August 21, Colombo (LNW): Epidemiologist Dr. Chinthana Perera announced yesterday (20th) that the Medical Research Institute (MRI) is fully equipped to conduct tests for Monkeypox. He assured that routine monitoring is being conducted across the country to detect any potential cases of Monkeypox, and the Health Ministry is prepared with the necessary treatment facilities should any cases arise.
Dr. Perera also mentioned that they are closely tracking the spread of the disease within the Asian region and are keeping a watchful eye on the global situation. This follows the World Health Organization’s recent declaration of a global emergency concerning Monkeypox, along with the release of a set of guidelines to manage the virus.
August 21, Colombo (LNW): The National Election Commission announced that polling cards for the upcoming Presidential Election will be handed over to the Department of Posts (Sri Lanka Post) on September 2, 2024. According to Chairman R.M.A.L. Rathnayake, a special day will be designated on September 8, 2024, to ensure the distribution of these polling cards.
The printing process for 17,140,354 polling cards has already begun. These cards will assist voters in verifying their identity at polling stations, making the voting process smoother and more efficient.
Sri Lanka aims to attract 3 million tourist arrivals in 2024, driven by strong performance so far this year and favorable conditions anticipated during the upcoming winter season, according to tourism officials.
As part of this effort, the country will launch its first significant promotional campaign in over two decades starting next month, targeting key markets to boost tourist numbers.
The initial phase of this campaign will focus on five major markets: India, China, the UK, Germany, and France.
This will be executed through a six-month digital marketing campaign and a year-long public relations initiative, backed by an investment of Rs. 1.6 billion (Rs. 1 billion for digital marketing and Rs. 600 million for PR).
In the second phase, slated for next year, Sri Lanka will expand its reach to seven emerging markets, including Russia, Australia, the Middle East, Japan, Korea, Italy, Poland, Scandinavia, and Benelux.
This phase will have an investment of Rs. 1.2 billion (Rs. 750 million for digital marketing and Rs. 450 million for PR).
To implement these campaigns, Sri Lanka has selected several agencies through a competitive tender process, including Ogilvy and Holmes Pollard, along with specialized in-country agencies in markets like China and Russia.
The funding for these campaigns has been sourced from the Tourism Development Levy (TDL) and the Embarkation Levy (EL).
Reflecting on the tourism sector’s resilience Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) Chairman Chalaka Gajabahu noted that the industry rebounded quickly after the 2022 crisis, thanks to collaborative public-private initiatives.
Notably, the “Check-In” short-term promotion campaign launched in late 2023 and the “Seeing is Believing” PR initiative, which engaged influencers, bloggers, and media outlets, played a key role.
The new tourism branding identity, “Sri Lanka: You will come back for more,” emphasizes the fact that over 30% of tourists to Sri Lanka are repeat visitors.
Nalin Perera, Managing Director of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB), highlighted that over 50 foreign media personnel, including travel influencers and bloggers, generated more than $500 million in media publicity for Sri Lanka.
Additionally, Sri Lanka participated in 16 international travel shows and organized 16 roadshows in key markets such as India, China, Australia, and Turkey, with a strong focus on business-to-business sessions.
SLTPB officials also noted that various initiatives have led to Sri Lanka receiving 15 international endorsements in 2024, including being ranked as the 5th most popular solo travel destination by Forbes magazine and being recognized as the “Best International Tourism Board” at the Global Tourism Awards in New Delhi.
Moreover, the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) market has seen growth, increasing its share of total arrivals from 4% to 10%.
Major companies like Pfizer, Toyota, Hero, Tata, and KPMG have hosted large MICE events in Sri Lanka. To further expand the MICE offering, SLTPB, in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Conventions Bureau, has been promoting the Northern and Southern provinces, in addition to Colombo
August 21, Colombo (LNW): For the first time since April 2020, Sri Lanka’s Net Foreign Assets (NFAs) in the banking sector have turned positive, reaching Rs. 636.3 billion in the first half of 2024 (1H24), as reported by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).
This improvement is primarily attributed to the accumulation of foreign assets, as outlined in the CBSL’s latest Monetary Policy report.
The report highlights that the NFAs of licensed commercial banks (LCBs) improved due to an increase in foreign assets, coupled with the settlement of foreign currency exposures to non-residents.
The Central Bank’s NFAs also experienced growth, primarily through net purchases of foreign exchange from the domestic market. This increase was bolstered by enhanced performance in the external sector, leading to an improvement in Sri Lanka’s gross official reserves.
In 2023, NFAs saw a significant positive shift of Rs. 1.3 trillion, a sharp contrast to the Rs. 785 billion contraction observed in 2022.
Additionally, credit extended to the private sector grew by approximately Rs. 146 billion during 1H24, marking a 6.2% year-on-year increase by the end of June 2024.
While much of this credit expansion was consumption-driven, there was also notable growth in credit provided to other sectors of the economy.
On the government front, net credit to the government (NCG) by the banking system contracted by Rs. 196 billion during 1H24.
This contraction was primarily due to a decrease in NCG by the Central Bank, driven by the maturity of treasury bills and a reduction in the use of the standing lending facility (SLF) by LCBs.
However, NCG by LCBs saw an increase, reflecting their growing investments in government securities.
Furthermore, credit extended to state-owned business enterprises (SOBEs) by LCBs contracted by Rs. 60.4 billion in 1H24. This reduction was largely due to net repayments by major SOBEs and the valuation impact of the rupee’s appreciation during this period.
Over the past two years, leading up to April 2024, Sri Lanka’s banking system has accumulated reserves or repaid debt amounting to 6.2 billion US dollars. This accumulation followed measures to curb inflationary pressures by halting money printing and preventing artificially low-interest rates.
In April 2022, Sri Lanka defaulted on its debt, ceasing repayments on bilateral and private loans. The savings from these deferred repayments, from April 2022 to March 2024, amount to 5.8 billion US dollars.
However, the Central Bank continued to borrow from the Reserve Bank of India and printed money to manage interventions, delaying a swift balance of payments correction.
Despite these challenges, the Central Bank has since adopted a deflationary policy, rebuilding reserves while private credit contracted. By April 2022, negative reserves had ballooned to 4.8 billion US dollars.
The International Monetary Fund has asked for a recapitalization plan for the central bank after an extension of maturities of central bank held Treasuries to meet the lender’s gross financing need (GFN) targets led to valuation losses.
“After assessing the impact of the DDO on the CBSL’s balance sheets, done in close consultation with external auditors and IMF staff and by applying good accounting standards and valuation frameworks, the government should stand ready to inject capital into the CBSL, as soon as fiscal buffers allow it, so as to reach positive equity from 2025, which would increase to 2 percent of GDP by 2031.”
Based on longstanding principles before inflation and peacetime currency collapses became routine from the last century with the defeat of sound money by state-run central banks running on Anglo-American post-Keynesian inflationist doctrine, note-issue banks typically bought 90 to 95 day bills, generally known as the ‘bills only policy’, analysts say.
During a special media briefing, Cabinet Spokesman and Minister Bandula Gunawardena addressed misconceptions regarding the Government’s recent decisions, particularly about the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement and the upcoming Budget. The briefing aimed to clear up public misunderstandings about the country’s financial commitments and constraints.
The Minister explained that under the Extended Fund Facility with the IMF, the Government has secured funds to support the Budget through 2025-2027, and the salary proposals will not be revised within this period. Gunawardena stressed that any future government must adhere to these agreements.
Despite economic challenges, the Government has already granted a Rs. 10,000 allowance to public servants, with further relief promised as the economy recovers. A special committee was appointed by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to address wage disparities among public sector employees, and its recommendations will be implemented in the 2025 Budget.
This includes a 24% to 35% salary increase for all public sector employees starting January 2025, and an increase in the cost-of-living allowance to Rs. 25,000 for three years, with the minimum monthly salary for the lowest-ranking Government employee expected to reach Rs. 55,000.
The Government faces a Budget deficit estimated at $5.018 billion for the coming year. To address this, the IMF will provide $700 million, with additional support from the World Bank ($400 million) and the Asian Development Bank ($300 million). The total projected debt relief amounts to $3.655 billion.
As preparations for the 2025 Budget continue, the Government seeks input from other political parties on their economic plans for governing the country from January 2025.
Gunawardena underscored the importance of this year’s Budget process, especially with the upcoming Presidential election on September 21, and noted that financial provisions must be allocated within 100 days as required by the Constitution.
