Upcoming Sri Lanka – By Dr harold Gunatillake
Website: www.Doctorharold.com
Transcript:
* Sri Lanka was hit by an unprecedented financial crisis in 2022, the worst since its independence from Britain in 1948, due to a severe paucity of foreign exchange reserves, sparking political turmoil in the country, which led to the ouster of the all-powerful Rajapaksa family.
* Economy improves, and forex reserves rise for Sri Lanka,
The Theme of the 2023 International Women’s Day Celebration in Sri Lanka– is “She is the pride of the nation.” International Women’s Day is observed annually on March 8th, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe promotes women’s empowerment and well-being. In Sri Lanka, the first Women’s Day celebration was held in 1978, and every year since then, the celebration has centred around different themes.
Despite the current social and economic challenges Sri Lanka faces, its women continue to exhibit strength and resilience, earning respect and admiration. As such, this year’s Women’s Day celebration, themed “She is the Pride of the Nation,” is dedicated to honouring the remarkable achievements of Sri Lankan women.
President Wickremesinghe praises three women leaders, including FM Sitharaman, for providing much-needed assistance to Sri Lanka on International women’s day.
On this occasion, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe lauded three women leaders, including Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, for providing much-needed assistance to the debt-ridden island nation during the ongoing economic crisis.
Addressing a state function here marking International Women’s Day, Wickremesinghe admitted that while several persons have provided aid to Sri Lanka, three women have dominated this sector. He said, “I want to make a special mention of them. The foremost of them is Nirmala Sitharaman – the finance minister of India. It was she who discussed with the prime minister https://youtu.be/u2DuzR Website: www.Doctorharold.com
and the Cabinet and made the decision to lend 3 billion dollars to us in April. That was after we had declared our bankruptcy,” the president said.
“It was a courageous decision to lend money to a bankrupt country. We have to thank her in the first place. I don’t have to tell you how bad we would have been without that USD 3 billion,” Wickremesinghe added.
Wickremesinghe also praised US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and IMF Managing
Director Kristalina Georgiva, saying, “without those three women leaders, we would have been in serious trouble”.
The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday welcomed the progress made by Sri Lanka in taking some decisive policy actions to address its economic woes and obtaining financing assurances from all their major creditors, including China, India and the Paris Club. “Look forward to presenting Sri Lanka’s IMF-supported program to our Executive Board for approval on March 20,” Georgieva said.
Sri Lanka’s Probable IMF Support Deal Positive for Debt Negotiations
Fitch Ratings-Hong Kong-10 March 2023:
Fitch Ratings believes Sri Lanka is likely to secure financing support from the IMF after
the fund’s Executive Board set a date of 20 March to review the USD2.9 billion staff-level agreement that the country signed with the
IMF in September 2022.
IMF funding should improve Sri Lanka’s external liquidity, but the timing of any debt
restructuring agreement with official and private creditors remains uncertain. We view the announcement of a date for the Executive Board review as an indication that the
IMF regards the financing assurances it has received from key official creditors as
sufficiently credible to move forward.
Sri Lanka’s president on 7 March indicated that China had provided its support, following earlier assurances from India and Paris Club official creditors. The president also indicated that Sri Lanka had completed all prior actions required under the IMF programme. However, the IMF Board will assess this in deciding whether to approve the package.
China promises Sri Lanka deal on debt treatment in coming months
EXIM Bank of China has told Sri Lanka that it will not seek immediate repayment of debt for 2022 and 2023 and will expedite negotiations on “medium- and long-term debt treatment” to finalise specifics in the coming months. This news sets the stage for final approval of the IMF’s $2.9 billion, four-year bailout for the island nation on March 20.
By end-2020, Sri Lanka owed EXIM $2.83 billion, or 3.5% of its external debt, according to IMF data.
How much loan has India given to Sri Lanka?
India emerged as the top lender to Sri Lanka in 2022, disbursing USD 377 million in loans to the island nation as it grappled with an unprecedented political crisis and economic turmoil, according to the Verite Research think-tank.
The credit line is due to expire on March 17, with Sri Lanka having used only about two thirds of it, mainly for medicines and food,
What is the line of credit given by India?
The Line of Credit – LOCs also helps to promote exports of Indian goods and services, as
75% of the value of the contract must be sourced from India. The projects under LOCs are spread over different sectors (Agriculture, Infrastructure, Telecom, Railway, Transmission/Power, Renewable Energy, etc.).
Presently, Sri Lanka in talks to extend $1 bln Indian credit line as IMF deal looms –
Sri Lanka is negotiating with India to extend a $1 billion credit line by a few months, two
sources told Reuters, as the island nation tries to line up funds for the rest of the year while the IMF looks set to approve a $2.9 billion loan for it soon.
Electricity bill increase pushes crisis-weary Sri Lankans to the brink.
The power price increase is the latest measure by Sri Lanka to clinch a $2.9 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to tackle a crisis that evolved from the confluence of the COVID-19 pandemic battering its tourism-reliant economy, rising oil prices and populist tax cuts by a previous government.
The latest electricity price rise in crisis-hit Sri Lanka has left small business people in a
quandary: the 66% increase means Most businesses can’t afford to pay for electricity. Still, it can’t manage without it, so it goes deeper into debt to keep it on. Over the last month, with inflation hovering at 55% year-on-year,most small business people’s income has fallen by about a third as fewer customers purchase the goods. More of them struggle under the island’s worst financial crisis in seven decades.
Sri Lanka gains US$ 170mn from tourism trade in February Sri Lanka received US$ 169.9 million from the tourism trade in February, slightly up from US$ 169.4 million in the same month, a year ago.
Hello Viewers, whatever you hear from various sources, including the media, the country is progressing slowly, in spite of the price rises in certain commodities, mainly electricity.
Prices of everyday home commodities have come down because of the revaluation of the rupee against the US dollar. Unfortunately, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said the country has no choice but to move towards cost-reflective pricing. “We know that this will be hard on the public, especially the poor,” said the minister to reporters, adding, “We hope that with this step, Sri Lanka has moved closer to getting the IMF programme.”
Hope this programme gave you a glimpse of the news what is happening in your motherland.
Let me say goodbye until we meet again.
