April 10, Colombo (LNW): In a bid to bolster English language education across the nation, the Sri Lankan Cabinet has approved the recruitment of 2,500 English teachers under the ‘English for All’ programme. This decision comes as part of a broader initiative to enhance English language proficiency among students and meet the growing demand for English medium education in schools.
Announcing the Cabinet’s decision, Cabinet Spokesman and Mass Media Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana revealed that the government aims to address the shortage of English teachers by recruiting additional personnel. Currently, there is a requirement for 6,500 English teachers to teach GCE Ordinary Level (O/L) subjects in English, while only 4,441 teachers have been approved for this purpose.
To bridge this gap, the proposal jointly submitted by President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Education Minister Susil Premajayantha has been endorsed by the Cabinet. The plan entails increasing the number of approved English teachers to 6,500 by the year 2024, targeting the 765 schools where subjects are currently taught in the English medium. Additionally, the recruitment of 2,500 new English teachers will further support this initiative.
The ‘English for All’ programme underscores the government’s commitment to improving English language education nationwide, ensuring that students have access to quality language instruction and enhancing their opportunities for academic and professional success.
April 10, Colombo (LNW): Several spells of showers will occur in Eastern province and in Hambanthota district. Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Galle and Matara districts after 2.00 p.m.
Misty conditions can be expected at some places in Western, Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Galle and Matara districts during the morning.
General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
On the apparent northward relative motion of the sun, it is going to be directly over the latitudes of Sri Lanka during 05th to 15th of April in this year. The nearest areas of Sri Lanka over which the sun is overhead today (10th) are Tambuttegama, Medirigiriya, Ihala Puliyankulama, Rajanganaya, Eppawala, Vakarai at about 12:11 noon.
April 09, Colombo (LNW): The government announced that it has been successful in settling a total of US$1.9 billion (US$ 1909.7) million in foreign debt and interest payments within a time-frame of about 19 months although Sri Lanka has defaulted. US$ 6 billion starting from April 2022.
United Republican Front (URF) leader Patali Champika Ranawaka said Sri Lanka defaulted on a payment of $ 6 billion starting from April 2022 when the country announced bankruptcy.
He said this was the reality though the Central Bank data show the increase of foreign reserves to $ 5 billion.
“While CBSL data shows Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves reaching $5 billion, it is imperative to understand that from April 2022, the sum of defaulted debt is approximately $ 6 billion. The sum of loans obtained since the default from the World Bank, ADB, and IMF is $3 billion,” he posted on X.
From 21 July 2022, to February 2024, the government has disbursed US$ 1.34 bilion ($1338.8 million) in multilateral loans and interest, with no outstanding arrears in loan installments or interest payments, President’s Office Community Affairs Director General Rajith Keerthi Tennakone said.
Addressing a press conference, he shared that according to the Department of External Resources data, payments totaling US$ 760.1 million have been made to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and US$ 7.0 million to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Additionally, payments of US$ 22.3 million have been made to the European Investment Bank, US$ 17.9 million to the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and US$ 9.8 million to the EFF 23-26 programme of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Furthermore, US$ 1.7 million has been disbursed to the Nordic Development Fund, US$ 29.9 million to the OPEC Fund for International Development, and US$ 489.9 million to the World Bank (WB).
The government’s total payment for loans and interest amount to US$ 1,338.8 million. “It is noteworthy that the ADB, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank (WB) have extended further financial support to the government due to its commendable track record in debt repayment,” said Tennakone.
He pointed out that negotiations are underway with relevant states and institutions to finalise agreements on the repayment of bilateral loans and interest, which currently stand at US$ 571.0 million.
Additionally, preliminary agreements have been reached concerning debt and interest payments, involving members of the Paris Club, with outstanding interest to be settled by the end of February 2024 amounting to US$ 450.7 million.
April 09, Colombo (LNW): The government will reconsider through a committee the criteria considered in the selection of beneficiaries for the Aswesuma Social Welfare Programme, Welfare Benefits Board sources said.
Selected families are provided with monthly allowances varying from Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 15,000 under the Aswesuma Programme, which was launched last year.
All necessary arrangements have been made to extend benefits to 2.4 million family units starting from June 2024, he disclosed. .
Sri Lanka’s existing Samurdhi programme is to continue its broader mandate of lifting people out of poverty while the new Aswesuma scheme will concern itself with direct cash transfers to deserving people without the involvement of a third party, State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe said
Additionally, Minister Semasinghe noted that approximately 7,000 individuals who were found to have received benefits based on false information have been removed from the program due to appeals and objections.
The Minister of State for Finance provided further details, stating that initially, 3.4 million family units were certified for the program’s first phase. Out of this, 1.9 million families have been deemed eligible to receive benefits.
Following the assessment of appeals and objections received, the Welfare Benefit Board is prepared to commence payments to the selected beneficiaries from July 2024.
Sri Lanka’s poverty rates continued to rise for the fourth year in a row, with an estimated 25.9% or 5.68 million of Sri Lankans living below the poverty line in 2023 with households grappling with high cost of living. World Bank’s country update report observed.
Labor force participation has also seen a decline, particularly among women and in urban areas, exacerbated by the closure of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
Households are grappling with multiple pressures from high prices, income losses, and under employment. This has led to households taking on debt to meet food requirements and maintain spending on health and education.
The World Bank report notes: “Households have been impoverished by a fall in their purchasing power due to high inflation, losses in wages, income and employment, and a drop in remittances.”
Approximately 60 percent of Sri Lankan households, it states, have decreased incomes, with many facing increased food insecurity, malnutrition and stunted growth. The persistence of this wide-scale social devastation and misery, however, is a direct result of the IMF’s brutal social attacks.
The report indicates that labour market trends in Sri Lanka have been affected by widespread closures of micro-, small- and medium-enterprises. In the third quarter of 2023, the labour force participation rate in the urban sector dropped to 45.2 percent, down from 52.3 percent in 2019.
Youth unemployment, especially young adults (aged from 25–29), rose to 17.7 percent between the second and third quarters of 2023.
April 09, Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka initiated the second review under the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) framework, signifying a crucial step forward in ongoing efforts to foster economic growth – and the authorities remain optimistic about concluding the review successfully and securing a staff-level agreement, which would facilitate accessing the third tranche.
In December, the International Monetary Fund approved the disbursement of US$ 337 million following the initial review of the EFF with a pledge to implement debt restricting agreements with official creditors.
In parallel, President Ranil Wickremesinghe outlined the government’s expectation of securing a debt moratorium from 2023 to 2027 – and resume debt repayments between 2027 and 2042 – with further restructuring anticipated to reduce annual external debt payments to four percent of GDP.
It’s been nine months since the LMD-PEPPERCUBE Business Confidence Index (BCI) surpassed the 90 point mark. In March, the barometer recorded a healthy 12 basis point rise to 93, though it remains substantially below its all-time average of 123.
The March score mirrors that of July last year when the BCI stood at 93.PepperCube Consultants attributes the good news to the business community’s “acclimatisation to the prevailing economic climate post the value added tax (VAT) hike.”
It asserts that corporate optimism over the economy and anticipation of maintaining sales volumes over the next 12 months has fuelled the surge in business confidence, although “inflation and high interest rates – not to mention the business unfriendly tax regime – continue to be key challenges faced by the business community.
” PepperCube also notes the “interest in increasing the workforce in the corporate sector, which has recorded an improvement from January and February.”
The reality however, is that on both the internal and external fronts, sensitivities continue to abound.
Here at home, the cost of doing business continues to be high and the recent tax increases are having a telling effect on businesses.
On the global front, the twin wars in Ukraine and Gaza continue to raise the prospect of even higher import prices (for example, oil) and a hard rather than soft landing for the world economy could be on the cards in the medium term.
Contrary to the assertion in the February edition of LMD, suggesting that “the BCI is unlikely to gain any substantial ground at least until there’s clarity on the timing and conduct of one or more elections this year,” the pendulum has thankfully swung in the right direction.
And as PepperCube notes, “as election fever sweeps the nation, politics and the political culture continue to cause anxiety [in business circles] although they’re overshadowed by economic concerns…”
Accordingly, the trajectory of the index in the next six months or so remains uncertain, given the prospect of political turmoil ahead of elections – as we know, political instability in any shape or form will hurt the economy.
April 09, Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka’s foreign remittances have long been characterised as resilient flows of capital that provide financial relief to migrant households and their incomes during downturns, crises and other periods of hardship.
The stability of Sri Lanka’s remittance economy during the the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis seemingly confirmed the resilience narrative, but subsequent and persistent declines in migrant income transfers
Around 75,000 Sri Lankans have left their country for overseas jobs in the first three months of 2024, the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) said.
The SLBFE noted that 74,499 Sri Lankan workers have left the South Asian country to seek jobs abroad, with 46 percent of them being women.
This is a slight drop from the figure recorded for the first quarter in 2023, at 76,025 people, said the bureau.
The SLBFE said that in recent months, the Sri Lankan workers mostly tried to find jobs in countries like South Korea, Israel and Japan.
Labor and Foreign Employment Minister Manusha Nanayakkara revealed a significant surge in remittances sent by foreign workers to Sri Lanka during the first quarter of this year.
The total amount reached approximately 1.53 billion dollars, marking an 8.7 percent increase compared to the previous year.
In March alone, Sri Lankan expatriates contributed 572.4 million dollars to the country’s economy.
Since assuming office in May 2022, Minister Nanayakkara has overseen a substantial influx of remittances, totaling 10,263.8 million US dollars.
The Ministry of Labor and Foreign Employment has actively facilitated legal channels for expatriate workers to remit funds to Sri Lanka through the banking system.
Several initiatives have been implemented for the benefit of expatriate workers, including house maids working in the Middle East:
These are Electric Vehicle Import Licenses. Manusavi Pension Scheme. Multi-purpose Loan Scheme, Hope Gate: A dedicated portal at the airport for expatriate workers.
These measures collectively aim to enhance the inflow of foreign remittances and contribute to Sri Lanka’s economic growth.
Sri Lanka’s worker remittances through official channels grew 0.72 percent to 572.4 million US dollars, from 468.3 million US dollars a year ago, data from the central bank show. Remittances were up from 476.2 million in February 2024.
Related Sri Lankans migrating for foreign employment drops 4.2-pct in 2023 Sri Lanka’s remittances dropped to around 275 million US dollars in 2022 as money was printed to mis-target rates creating forex shortages driving foreign exchange into unofficial channels.
Monetary stability was restored in the last quarter of 2022, improving the credibility of the exchange rate. Monthly remittances have been above 475 million US dollars from May 2023
Remittances generally rise in March ahead of traditional New Year holidays and also in December.
April 08, Colombo (LNW): Chamber of Marine Industries is planning a new course in the nation’s maritime journey, uniting industry leaders, experts, and visionaries
This objective of the chamber was transpired at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in which Indhra Kaushal Rajapaksa, a seasoned industry stalwart, assumed the mantle of Chairman for the term 2024-2025.
In the New Year, the Chamber aims to propel the Recreational Boating industry forward by promoting boating as a lifestyle.
This shift in perspective will invigorate the sector and engage enthusiasts. Improvement and sharing facilities of Fisheries Harbours for Tourism: Collaborating with the Ceylon Fishery Harbour Corporation, the Chamber plans to improve and share facilities of Fisheries Harbors for Tourism.
This improvement not only enhances tourism but also contributes significantly to the country’s USD income. Uplifting Communities: Water-based activities lie at the heart of the Chamber’s vision.
Initiatives like the Mirissa Mini Marina and the Port City mini marina (operated by Solar Impulse Ltd). Efforts continue to enhance fishery harbors for tourism until full-fledged marinas emerge, uplifting coastal communities. Sri Lanka:
A Premier Marine Tourism Destination: Facilitating easy entry and exit for tourists, the Chamber positions Sri Lanka as a premier marine tourism hub.
The island’s pristine waters and vibrant culture beckon travelers seeking nautical adventures. 700+ Yachts/Boats by 2034:
Ambitious plans are underway to manufacture and utilise over 700 yachts and boats within the next decade. Local boat manufacturers play a pivotal role in this endeavor, as Sri Lanka aims to become a hub for marine craftsmanship and innovation.
Promoting Offshore and Marine services: Sri Lanka with its strategic location is a natural attraction to the Marine & Offshore services market.
Blessed with the world’s 2nd largest natural deepwater port, ‘Trincomalee’ and man-built deepwater port ‘Hambantota International Port’ in the southern tip of Sri Lanka, this segment is targeted for development. Initiatives to be taken to protect and mitigate Ocean pollution.
With clear focus and coordinated efforts, the Chamber will implement initiatives contributing significantly to safeguard Sri Lanka’s oceans and marine ecosystems.
Brand Building and Value Creation – a range of activities are planned ranging from organizing boat shows and industry-specific conferences to showcase Sri Lanka’s boat-building capabilities and leveraging Sri Lanka’s strategic location, natural harbors, and cost advantages.
The prime focus will be to position Sri Lanka as a preferred destination for boat manufacturing and related services and promote the country’s boat-building heritage with its potential for growth in the leisure and commercial sectors.
April 08, Colombo (LNW): Indonesia is seeking to sign its trade pact with Sri Lanka by next March while hoping that one year of negotiations is enough to close the deal.
It has only been a few weeks since Indonesia and Sri Lanka agreed to formally discuss the preferential trade agreement (PTA).
The first round of negotiations already took place virtually earlier this week, which zeroed in on the work plan and draft agreement text. The negotiators are set to enter more substantial chapters in the coming rounds.
“Indonesia and Sri Lanka are … aiming to substantially conclude the negotiations by end-2024. We have also set a target to sign the agreement in March 2025,” a press statement by the Trade Ministry reads.
The second round of talks is scheduled to take place in Colombo on June 19-20. Both countries will discuss the text concept, as well as market access.
During the negotiations launching ceremony last month, Deputy Trade Minister Jerry Sambuaga said the PTA would become a building block to a free trade agreement (FTA).
Unlike the PTA whose scope is still limited, an FTA is more ambitious in nature and usually aims to remove the tariffs across all or most goods.
Jakarta also said at the time that the upcoming PTA could help Indonesian goods such as palm oil, paper, and fatty acid to gain better access to the Sri Lankan market.
Indonesia and Sri Lanka have launched the negotiations for a preferential trade agreement (PTA) after waiting since 2017.
A PTA typically reduces or eliminates tariffs on selected goods, making it the first step in economic integration. During the launch, both countries found the PTA to become a key building block towards a free trade agreement (FTA) — a more comprehensive deal that usually aims to lift the tariffs across all goods.
“With this PTA, Indonesia has the potential to boost exports to Sri Lanka for its leading products such as palm oil, paper, and fatty acid,” Djatmiko Bris Witjaksono, the director general for international trade agreements, was quoted as saying in a press statement recently .
Last year, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Jokowi agreed to begin the trade pact negotiations soon during their meeting in China.
The Indonesian government data shows that the bilateral trade with Sri Lanka was valued at $369.7 million in 2023, up by 17.61 percent from $314.4 million recorded in the previous year.
Indonesia has managed to maintain its surplus with the island country in the past five years. Last year, Indonesia’s surplus amounted to $283.5 million.In January 2024 alone, the bilateral trade amounted to $23.5 million.
Indonesia mainly exports copra, petroleum, paper, cartons, tobacco, as well as coal to Sri Lanka. Knitted fabrics and tobacco processing machines were among Indonesia’s top imports from the South Asian country, according to the Trade Ministry.
April 08, Colombo (LNW): The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has opened up a world of new opportunities for Sri Lankan businesses, by becoming the first bank in Sri Lanka to enable Alipay QR Code payments under unified Lanka QR.
Alipay e-wallet holders, currently numbering over 1 billion, can now scan the Commercial Bank LankaPay unified QR code issued to Sri Lankan merchants to make payments from anywhere in the world, as a result of this latest development.
The Bank said more than 50,000 of the Bank’s merchants will be enabled to accept the Alipay QR when the Bank completes the deployment of the new QR across its network, facilitating access to a vast new customer segment. Around 28,000 merchants who have POS devices can already accept Alipay QR payments via POS devices after enabling the service by calling the bank.
“This is a huge breakthrough for Sri Lankan businesses, and we are proud to be the Bank that unlocks the potential of the Alipay portal for them,” Commercial Bank’s Deputy General Manager – Retail Banking & Marketing Mr Hasrath Munasinghe said.
“This will also enable thousands of tourists visiting Sri Lanka to scan and pay using their Alipay e-wallets, and enhances the versatility of the LankaPay platform, he added..”
As a leading digital payment and lifestyle service platform, Alipay helps partners and more than 80 million merchants in China to effortlessly serve over 1 billion Chinese consumers.
The company’s proprietary technology and 20 years of quality services support mobile-savvy Chinese consumers to instantly and safely scan to pay when making online and offline purchases in China or travelling overseas.
Commercial Bank has the distinction of launching the first QR-based payment application on LankaPay’s LankaQR platform, a Central Bank of Sri Lanka initiative to ensure all QR codes and QR based transactions in Sri Lanka are standardised and interoperable.
The application, ComBank Q+, recently won the Gold award for ‘Best Mobile Application for Retail Payments via LankaQR’ at the LankaPay Technnovation Awards 2024.
The largest private sector bank in Sri Lanka, the first Sri Lankan bank to be listed among the Top 1000 Banks of the World and the country’s first 100% carbon neutral bank,
Commercial Bank operates a strategically-located network of branches and 964 automated machines island-wide, and is the largest lender to Sri Lanka’s SME sector.
Commercial Bank has the widest international footprint among Sri Lankan Banks, with 20 outlets in Bangladesh, a Microfinance company in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, and a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake in the Maldives.
April 08, Colombo (LNW): Almost two years after defaulting on its external debt payments, Sri Lanka’s macroeconomic position and foreign reserves have improved, but remains very fragile although the World Bank’s projection of moderate growth of 2.2% in 2024, World Bank report revealed.
The continued external debt service suspension, inflows from development partners, large purchases of foreign exchange, and postponed repayments on existing credit lines have helped build usable official reserves to about 3 months of imports (US$4.9 billion by end-March 2024, compared to US$500 million in December 2022).
But this improvement is fragile. First, excluding currency swaps, “usable” reserves cover only 2.3 months of imports according to the IMF.
Sri Lanka’s gross official reserves grew 431 million dollars to 4,951 million US dollars in March 2024 from 4,520 million dollars in February, data from the central bank shows.
Gross official reserves include both monetary and fiscal reserves of the government that usually come from loans and grants.
Though gross official reserves are listed as 4.9 billion dollars by March, data shows that by February, the central bank’s net foreign exchange position was a negative 2.2 billion US dollars due to its borrowing.
The central bank bought over 400 million dollars in January and February and also allowed the exchange rate to appreciate amid deflationary policy.
The central bank had loans to India, the IMF and it had 3.2 billion dollars in swaps by February 2024, and they are being progressively being settled with reserves collected from deflationary policy or mopping up dollars bought outright from current transactions.
By engaging in swaps with domestic counterparties, the central bank can effectively print money, mis-target rates if the generated rupees are not mopped up, and leave the monetary accounts saddled with a debt in case the money is used for ‘reserves for imports’
Secondly, the recovery in external accounts results mainly from international financial aid, the suspension of payments of debt principal on the government’s external debts, the reduction in imports (a consequence of the economic crisis) and restrictions the central bank has imposed on imports, capital outflows and foreign exchange.
These restrictions remain in force, even though they have been significantly relaxed since the summer. With the return to growth, the country would expect an increase in the current account deficit.
In addition, the restructuring of the government’s external debt has still not been finalised. The government must rapidly reach an agreement with private creditors to respond to the IMF’s requirements and cover its financing needs.
So far, however, although it reached an agreement in principle with public creditors in November 2023, discussions with private creditors (who hold 61% of the government’s external debt) are on-going. The IMF’s programme is extremely ambitious and the risks that the government will not meet the objectives set are thus very high.
Any such failure would result in the release of the IMF loan being suspended and the government losing access to the foreign currency financing on which it is totally dependent, Finance Ministry sources said.
