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Economic assurance for Sri Lanka – By Dr Harold Gunatillake Website : www.Doctorharold.com The importance of further strengthening the existing economic, agricultural and cultural relations between China and Sri Lanka in the face of the current financial crisis was emphasised Chinese Ambassador Qi Zen Hong assured China, as a member of the International Monetary Fund, will provide the necessary support at the board of directors meeting, a statement from the Prime Minister’s office said. The ambassador called on Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardane and discussed economic, agricultural and cultural relations between China and Sri Lanka in the face of the current financial crisis. The discussion was initiated with a satisfactory reference to the historical bilateral relations between the two countries. “The Ambassador officially handed over the congratulatory message sent by the Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang to the new Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. During the meeting, the importance of further strengthening the ...

Aug 4, 2022 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Dr harold Gunatillake Tagged Dinesh Gunawardane, Hambantota Economic Zone, International Monetary Fund, Sri Lanka

All-Party Government will strengthen parliamentary democracy – Dr. Susil Premajayantha – By UDITHA KUMARASINGHE Source : sundayobserver Leader of the House and Education Minister Dr. Susil Premajayantha said that forming an All-Party Government would pave the way to strengthen parliamentary democracy. The Minister in an interview with the Sunday Observer said at present the whole world is looking at us so that it would be a very good message for the international community and the financial institutions such as World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank and donor countries to reconsider their stance towards Sri Lanka. He said the ulterior motive of certain groups is to capture power outside the Constitution. However, most of the people who participated in those protests are not in that line. First we should restore the law and order in the country and guarantee the supply of essential items such as foods and implement a ...

Jul 31, 2022 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles Tagged Asian Development Bank, Dr. Susil Premajayantha, Galle Face protest site, International Monetary Fund, Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka, World Bank

The people should be allowed to express their opinion at the earliest opportunity – CBEOU Source:Island The people should be allowed to express their opinion with regard to the political future of the country at the earliest possible opportunity, the Central Bank Executive Officers Union (CBEOU) said in a press release. The release:’ The primary demand of the people’s movement held on July 9, 2022 was to compel the then President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to step down. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has been appointed to fill the vacant position due to the resignation of the President who left the country in the face of intense public pressure and the Parliament is expected to elect a new President on July 20, 2022. ...

Jul 20, 2022 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles Tagged Central Bank Executive Officers Union, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, International Monetary Fund, Ranil Wickremesinghe

IMF-Sri Lanka talks positive-BY CHAMIKARA WEERASINGHE Source:Sundayobserver The talks in Colombo between the nine-member staff mission from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and senior officials from the Finance Ministry have made key progress in restructuring the country’s balance of payments for much needed financial consolidation, sources at the Prime Minister’s office told the Sunday Observer yesterday. “IMF-Government negotiations have moved in a positive direction from the start. The chances are that the IMF will reach a staff-level agreement with Sri Lanka,” a Finance Ministry official said. “This will be critical for channelling IMF funds for an economic stabilisation program. It will also create a positive background for obtaining external loans.” When the country enters into a staff-level agreement with the IMF, the country will not have to deal with issues like the recent refusal by an international bank to serve as a guarantor for Sri Lanka’s purchase of fuel, which ...

Jun 26, 2022 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles Tagged International Monetary Fund, Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

IMF delegation here today to discuss loan agreement-by Shiromi Abeyasinghe Source:Dailynews An International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation will arrive in Sri Lanka today (20) to finalise the staff-level agreement on the loan requested by Sri Lanka. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe telephoned International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on June 7 and requested her to expedite the staff-level agreement on the loan requested by Sri Lanka as soon as possible. PM Wickremesinghe was informed on June 9 about the visit of the IMF delegation due today. ...

Jun 24, 2022 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles Tagged International Monetary Fund, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

Sri Lanka Progress talks IMF Bailing Out Details – By Dr Harold Gunathilake Website: www.Doctorharold.com Transcript: Wickremesinghe requested that the staff-level delegation from financial institutions visit Colombo as soon as possible to finalise the staff-level agreement. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has urged IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva to send a team to Colombo “as soon as possible” so that a staff-level agreement could be finalised as his cash-starved government is seeking to find USD 6 billion to keep the country afloat for the next six months. During his talks with the IMF Managing Director on Tuesday, Wickremesinghe “requested that the staff-level delegation from the IMF visit Sri Lanka as soon as possible so that the staff-level agreement could be finalised,” online portal news first. Lk reported on Wednesday, quoting a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Media Division. The statement said that Georgieva expressed her willingness to support Sri Lanka ...

Jun 11, 2022 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Dr harold Gunatillake Tagged Central Bank, Colombo, Gerry Rice, International Monetary Fund, Julie Chung, Kristalina Georgieva, Mahinda Siriwardana, Nandalal Weerasinghe, Peter Breuer, Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Is a Small Preview of a Global Default Crisis – By Ruth Pollard The country is already wracked with shortages. The social order may shatter if the economy isn’t infused with cash soon. Source:bloomberg.com High school teacher S. Jeeva has spent two days in the baking sun lining up for cooking gas in the north of Sri Lanka’s capital. He’s been standing with thousands of others waiting for a delivery that, so far, hasn’t come. Meanwhile, many of his students, who will sit for important national exams Monday, have joined protests against the government at the waterfront along Colombo’s iconic Galle Face Green. Both are symbols of the economic and political crisis gripping the nation — the result of decades of corruption and financial mismanagement that pushed the country to default on May 19. It is, Jeeva says, his students’ democratic right to protest and demand a better government. Daily life has become ...

May 23, 2022 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles Tagged Ahilan Kadirgamar, Colombo, Galle Face Green, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, government, International Monetary Fund, LPG gas, political crisis, Sri Lanka, Tourism, University of Jaffna, World Bank

What’s happening in Sri Lanka? Country facing worst economic crisis and on the brink of bankruptcy – by Megan Baynes Source:news.sky.com In a country where limes cost 240% more than they did last year, and with a looming economic and food crisis, protests continue to play out between those demanding the government resign and those in support of it. Sri Lanka is on the brink of bankruptcy and now facing its worst economic crisis since independence, with acute shortages of food, fuel and other essentials. Protests have been taking place on the island nation of 22 million people since the end of March between pro-government supporters and those calling for an immediate change in authority. The background Sri Lanka, which gained independence from the UK in 1948, emerged from a devastating civil war in 2009. In 2019, the country was rocked by Easter Sunday bombings – 250 people were killed ...

May 10, 2022 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles Tagged COVID 19 pandemic, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, International Monetary Fund, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's stock exchange

Broke, downgraded and begging: Sri Lanka pays price for missteps – by MARWAAN MACAN-MARKAR South Asian nation’s economic crisis draws comparisons with Lebanon’s meltdown Source:asia.nikkei.com BANGKOK — Sri Lanka’s failure to settle interest payments on sovereign bonds and its subsequent ratings downgrade have drawn unflattering comparisons with the economic meltdown in Lebanon. The South Asian nation on April 18 failed to pay interest of $78.13 million on $1.25 billion of bonds. Standard & Poor’s followed up this week with a downgrade to a “selective default” rating — the latest knife in the back of the debt-ridden economy. Foreign investors who had bought the island’s international sovereign bonds (ISBs) were angry that they were misled by promises the debt would be paid. The principal cheerleader was Nivard Cabraal, the then central bank governor. Throughout he stood by views he had expressed to Nikkei in a February interview: “I am determined to ...

May 7, 2022 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, elanka Finance Tagged Ali Sabry, Anushka Wijesinha, COVID 19 pandemic, Economic analysts in Colombo, Foreign investors, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Harsha De Silva, IMF program, International Monetary Fund, Samagi Jana Balawegaya party, South Asian nation's economic

Sri Lanka gives $1 billion relief as anger grows over food costs Source:timesofindia.indiatimes.com COLOMBO: Sri Lanka unveiled a $1 billion relief package as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government seeks to temper growing public anger over the surging prices of essential food and medical items in a country that’s running out of foreign exchange to pay for imports. The government will raise civil servants salaries and pensions, remove some taxes on food and medicine and provide cash for its poorest citizens, a move critics say won’t help Sri Lanka’s state of finances and soaring inflation. The package accounts for 1.2% of gross domestic product, and will be re-allocated from the 3.9 trillion rupees budgeted to be spent in the whole of 2022, Rajapaksa’s brother and finance minister Basil Rajapaksa told a briefing in Colombo late Monday. There are no plans for new taxes, he added. The relief covers about 2 million people who are on ...

Jan 8, 2022 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles Tagged Basil Rajapaksa, Colombo, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, International Monetary Fund