උපුටා ගැන්ම  හිරු පුවත්

“ජනපති දුටු මිත්‍රත්වය – එන අයට පාර්ලිමේන්තු කැන්ටිමෙන් තේ දෙන්න ද ?

අරගලයේදී පාර්ලිමේන්තුව අත්පත් කර ගැනීමට දැරූ උත්සාහය නීතියේ ආධිපත්‍ය සහ ව්‍යවස්ථාව උල්ලංඝනය කිරීමක් බව ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ පවසනවා.

156 වන පොලිස් දින සැමරුමට කොළඹදී අද එක්වෙමින් ජනාධිපතිවරයා මේ බව කියා සිටියා.

රටේ මූලික නීතිය වන ව්‍යවස්ථාවට අනූව කටයුතු නොකරණ පුද්ගලයින්ට එරෙහිව ක්‍රියා කළ යුතු බව ද ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා සඳහන් කළා.

1866 වර්ෂයේ සැප්තැම්බර් මස 03 වන දින ඇරඹුණු පොලීසිය මහජන ජීවිත හා දේපල ආරක්ෂා කරමින් සමාජ සුරක්ෂිතබව පවත්වාගැනීමට කැපවන ප්‍රධාන ආයතනයයි.

156 වැනි පොලිස් දින සැමරුම අදට යෙදී ඇති අතර ඊට සමගාමීව අද සිට 10 වනදා දක්වා පොලිස් සතියක්ද නම් කර තිබෙනවා.

ශ්‍රී ලංකා පොලීස් 156 වන සංවත්සරයේ ප්‍රධාන උත්සවය පැවැත්වුණේ ජනාධිපති රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතාගේ සහභාගීත්වයෙන්.

මේ අවස්ථාවට අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන, කථානායක මහින්ද යාපා අබේවර්ධන, මහජන ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍ය ටිරාන් අලස්, පොලිස්පති සී.ඩී වික්‍රමරත්න යන මහත්වරුන් ඇතුළු පිරිසක් එක්වසිටියා.

පොලිස් නිලධාරියෙකුට ජීවිතයේ එක්වරක් පමණක් ලබාගත හැකි ජනාධිපති පොලිස් වීරතා පදක්කමක් 2022 මැයි මස 09 වන දින නිට්ටඹුව නගරයේදී කලහකාරී පිරිසක් විසින් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී අමරකීර්ති අතුකෝරල මහතා ඝාතනය කළ සිද්ධියේදී මිය ගිය ආරක්ෂක නිලධරි පොලිස් සැරයන් ජයන්ත ගුණවර්ධන නිලධාරියා වෙනුවෙන් පිරිනැමුණා.

මේ අතර පාර්ලිමේන්තු සංකීර්ණයේ ආරක්ෂක රාජකාරියේ යෙදී සිටි පිරිසකටද මෙහිදී ප්‍රණාම සහතික පිරිනැමුණා.

By P.K.Balachandran Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, September 2: On Thursday, September 1, Sri Lanka succeeded in arriving at a staff-level agreement with the IMF for an Extended Fund Facility of US$ 2.9 billion spread over a four-year period. This facility was given following the submission of a credible plan for a thorough reform of the ruined economy by the Ranil Wickremesinghe government.

But, as the IMF team made it clear, the actual realization of the loan will be tied to the willingness of Sri Lanka’s external creditors to take haircuts and restructure the terms of repayment in a mutually agreed way. Herein lies the problem. The creditors are a mixed bag of bilateral donors, international funding organizations, and a very large number of private owners of Sri Lanka’s international bonds. All of them should agree to a common formula based on transparency. It is not an easy task for the two international companies charged with the responsibility to work out such a deal.

More importantly, the bilateral donors are not on the same page. China says that it is ready to help Sri Lanka at the IMF but it has also indicated that is against accepting a haircut. It wants Sri Lanka to take a further loan from it as a refinance facility. But this is not acceptable to India and the Western world, which want China to be a part of an internationally agreed haircut scheme. They also want Chinese loans to be transparent, because in their view, Chinese funding is not transparent.

While Sri Lanka has requested Japan to organize an international creditors’ conference, Japan wants Sri Lanka to do that. Some recent issues Japan had with the Sri Lankan authorities have dampened Tokyo’s enthusiasm to be proactive in saving Sri Lanka. In a written statement given to The Hindu, all that the Japanese embassy said was that it is assessing the progress and the situation in Sri Lanka and that Japan will further consider appropriate responses in consultation with the Government of Sri Lanka and other donor countries and organizations.

Even if Sri Lanka organizes a meeting of creditors, will China attend it?  China is key because it is the single largest bilateral creditor. Beijing is still insisting on a bilateral arrangement even as it promises to help Sri Lanka at the IMF. The signals from China are confusing. Asked if China is agreeable to a debt restructure program with Sri Lanka to make the island nation eligible for IMF support, a spokesman at the Chinese Embassy in Colombo said that China will help Sri Lanka with the IMF but added that Colombo should discuss the plan Beijing had proposed earlier, namely, a bilateral arrangement.

The embassy spokesman said: Shortly after the Sri Lankan government announced suspension of international debt payments in April 2022, Chinese financial institutions reached out to the Sri Lankan side and expressed their readiness to find a proper way to handle the matured debts related to China and help Sri Lanka overcome the current difficulties. We hope Sri Lanka will work actively with China in a similar spirit and work out a feasible solution expeditiously.”

Sources said that China will not agree to a haircut as suggested by the West but will offer Sri Lanka another US$ 1 billion as a fresh loan and a buyers’ credit of another US$ 1.5 billion. That is the original offer from which China is not expected to budge. China will help Sri Lanka on its own terms not on the terms set by the West, the sources explained.

India’s stand, as stated by the Ministry of External Affairs’ spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, is that New Delhi seeks creditor equitability and transparency”. But this puts New Delhi in opposition to Beijing. Sri Lanka owes to India US$ 960 million in addition to a credit line of US$ 4 billion given this year during the current economic crisis.

While it is true that the ball is now in Sri Lanka’s court and not in the IMF’s, the international community too has to change its approach to Sri Lanka says Sri Lankan economist Prof.Sirimal Abeyratne. He told this writer that Sri Lanka’s creditors should realize that the world is economically highly integrated and that geopolitical conflicts will only disrupt economic integration which is vital for the survival of all.

The US is tied up with Chinese investments in US bonds and China is dependent on US technology. Europe is dependent on Russia for energy as much as Russia is dependent on Europe. The Sri Lankan economic crisis casts a responsibility on the shoulders of all major countries and it is time they stopped looking at the crisis through geo-political spectacles and delaying Sri Lanka’s recovery, Prof. Abeyratne said.

Domestic Issues

In addition to the problems with external creditors, Sri Lanka has an internal problem of equal gravity to face, namely, political opposition and potential instability. The current President, Ranil Wickremesinghe, is firmly in the saddle with assured support from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) helmed by the Rajapaksas. His writ runs across the country because of his ability to use the instruments of power. But the opposition and the media consider his Presidency to be lacking in political legitimacy if not in constitutional legitimacy.

Wickremesinghe had not entered parliament as a popularly-elected member but as a nominated one in the National List. He became Prime Minister and President on the basis of support from the SLPP led by the discredited Rajapaksas. He is constantly derided for being in power only to shield the Rajapaksas from the law. But his opponents forget that Wickremesinghe had dared to present a growth-oriented interim budget, outlined a liberal reform program and secured the help of the IMF and the West. He has kept a lid on disruptive agitations and brought some relief to the common man.

The opposition wants immediate elections which they feel will oust the Ranil-Rajapaksa regime. The recent defection by 13 MPs from the Rajapaksa party gives them hope of more defections. Wickremesinghe’s bid to form an all-party government failed due to obstacles placed by the opposition which did not want a government led by Wickremesinghe or which included the SLPP led by the Rajapaksas.

Elections could be held (albeit at a high cost), but there is no guarantee that a stable government will be formed after the polls, because the opposition is highly fragmented both ideologically and politically.

If there is no political stability, if the Wickremesinghe government hangs by a thin thread in parliament, and if parliament is also divided, the difficult economic structural reforms sought by the IMF may not take place. The trade unions will become vociferous in opposing any measures to privatize loss-making and inefficient State-run institutions. Higher taxation and higher tariffs, suggested by the IMF, will be opposed tooth and nail.

If reforms are abandoned or implemented half-heatedly, Sri Lanka might not get the US$ 2.9 billion expected from the IMF and the creditors would not agree to take a haircut. India might have come to Sri Lanka’s again. But will India be in a position to do so? It is already at the end of its tether having shelled out US$ 4 billion this year alone, a sum which it has never extended to any other country in the past.

If Sri Lanka does not unite and Sri Lankans of different political hues do not declare a moratorium on confrontational politics as President Wickremesinghe has been pleading for, and if they do not put their shoulders to the wheel as one nation with one goal, the future is indeed grim.

The current crisis should be seen as an opportunity to change Sri Lanka radically and put it on the high road to growth and modernity. Politicians should turn a new leaf in political behavior, in economic policy and in international relations so that Sri Lanka does not get stuck with the image of being a nation with a begging bowl as its symbol.

Lanka Lead News

අමෙරිකානු තානාපතිනි ජූලි චුන්ග් මැතිණිය සෝවියට දේශයේ හිටපු ජනාධිපති මිඛායිල් ගොර්බොචොව් ගේ දිවි සැරිය නිම කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් සිය ට්විටර් ගිණුමේ සටහනක් තබමින් ,
මිඛායිල් ගොර්බොචොව් යනු කොමියුනිස්ට්වරුන්ට ධනවාදය නම් පාඩම උගන්වා සෝවියට සංගමය උඩු යටිකුරු හරවා නිර්මාපකයාගේ පාරාදීසය බවට පත් කළේය. උතුරු නැගෙනහිර පළත් වෙනම රාජ්‍යයක් බවට පත් කර ගැනීමට අවශ්‍යය වන්නේ නම් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවටද ගොර්බොචොව් කෙනෙකු අවශ්‍යයයි.” පවසා ඇති බව සමාජ ජාලා තුළ සැරිසරණය වන පණිවිඩයකින් කියවේ.

කෙසේ වුවද මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් අමෙරිකානු තානාපතිනිය සටහනක් තබමින් පවසන්නේ තමන්ගේ නමින් වන ව්‍යාජ සමාජ ජාලා ගිණුම් වලින් තමා පැවසුවේයැයි පවසමින් විවිධ ව්‍යාජ පණිවිඩ සමාජ ජාලා තුළ සංසරණය වන බවයි.

අමෙරිකානු තනාපතිනිය නිකුත් කළා යැයි පැවසෙන පණිවිඩය සම්බන්ධයෙන් අදහස් දක්වන ජේෂ්ඨ නීතිඥයෙකු ලංකා ලීඩ් වෙබ් අඩවිය වෙත පවසා සිටියේ, පණිවිඩය ව්‍යාජ යැයි අමෙරිකානු තානාපතිනිය පැවසුවද එයින් ගම්‍යය වන අදහස නම් ව්‍යාජ නොවන බවයි.

Lanka Lead News

මහ බැංකු අධිපති ආචාර්ය නන්දලාල් වීරසිංහ මහතා පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරුන්ට රට ගොඩ නැගීමට කළ යුතු දේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් ටියුෂන් පන්තියක් පැවැත්වූ බැවින් දැන් රටේ අර්බූදය විසඳෙනු ඇතිද යන්න පිළිබඳව ලංකා ලීඩ් වෙබ් අඩවිය ජාතික සංවිධාන වල මතය විමසන ලදී.

එහිදී ජාතික සංවිධාන එකමුතුවේ මාධ්‍යය ප්‍රකාශක වෛද්‍යය වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර මහතා අදහස් දක්වමින්, ” මීට පෙර පී බී ජයසුන්දරගෙන් උපදෙස් අරගෙන තමා රට අද මේ අර්බූදය දක්වා රැගෙන ආවේ. නන්දලාල් වීරසිංහ අහසින් කඩා වැටුණු සුර දූතයෙක් නෙවෙයි.ඔහු මීට පෙර මහ බැංකුවේ නියෝජ්‍යය අධිපති ලෙස වසර 10ක් කටයුතු කළ අයෙක්. අභ්‍යන්තර තීන්දු ගැනීමේදී මහ බැංකු අධිපතිට සමාන බලයක් නියෝජ්‍යය අධිපතිටත් තිබෙනවා. 2015-2019 කාලයේදී ඉතා ඉහළ පොලියකට ඩොලර් මිලියන 12000කට අධික වානිජ ණය ගන්නකොට ඔහුට පෙනුනේ නැද්ද වසර කිහිපයකින් ගොඩ එන්න බැරි ණය අර්බූදයක් එන බව. ඒ ණය ගත්තේ එදිනෙදා වියදම් පියවා ගැනීමට හෙවත් ගෙවුම් ශේෂ හිඟය පියවා ගැනීමට මිස කිසිදු සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘතියකට නෙවෙයි. නන්දලාල් කියන්නේ ලෙඩේ උත්සන්න වෙදෙක්. ඔහුගේ උපදෙස් වලින් ලෙඩා බේරා ගැනීමට සිහින දැකීම මේ සියවසයේ ලොකුම විහිලුවයි.”

Courtesy Adaderana

China says it stands ready to work with relevant countries and international financial institutions to continue to play a positive role in supporting Sri Lanka’s response to current difficulties and efforts to ease debt burden and realize sustainable development.

The spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Zhao Lijian stated this in response to a question raised by a journalist during a regular press conference on Friday (Sep 02).

When asked for China’s views, as a creditor nation of Sri Lanka, with regard to Japan’s request for all countries that lent money to the island nation to discuss debt restructuring, Mr. Zhao said China has paid attention to the difficulties and challenges faced by Sri Lanka.

We have provided help to Sri Lanka’s socioeconomic development to the best of its capacity.”

Speaking further, he said China supports relevant financial institutions in consulting with Sri Lanka for proper solutions.

Courtesy Adaderana

Myanmar has handed over 1,000 tons of rice to Sri Lanka at a port in the commercial city of Yangon, the state-run Myanmar News Agency reported on Saturday.

Speaking at the handover ceremony on Friday, Union Minister for Commerce U Aung Naing Oo said that the donation is a token of sympathy for Myanmar’s government and people for the people of Sri Lanka.

He expressed at the ceremony the hope for strengthening friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

Sri Lankan Ambassador to Myanmar J.M. Bandara expressed gratitude to the Myanmar government for the donation, saying the rice donation is helpful for Sri Lanka, which is currently facing an economic crisis.

Hiru

Courtesy Hiru News

Paris Club is ready to start debt relief process for Sri Lanka and coordinate with non-Paris Club official bilateral creditors to provide financing assurances.

Courtesy Hiru News

Four (04) Covid-19 related deaths have been confirmed for 02 September

Courtesy Hiru News

A loaf of bread (450g) will be sold at Rs. 300 citing the increase in Wheat Flour prices according to the All Ceylon Bakery Owners Association

Courtesy Hiru News

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian at the regular pess conference on September 2, 2022 responsed to a query of Reuters.

Reuters: During a news conference on Friday, Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki urged all countries that lent money to Sri Lanka, including China, to discuss the country’s debt restructuring. These were remarks made after Sri Lanka reached a loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund. As a creditor nation, does China have any comment?

Zhao Lijian: China has paid close attention to the difficulties and challenges faced by Sri Lanka and we have provided help to Sri Lanka’s socioeconomic development to the best of its capacity. China supports relevant financial institutions in consulting with Sri Lanka for proper solutions. We are ready to work with relevant countries and international financial institutions to continue to play a positive role in supporting Sri Lanka’s response to current difficulties and efforts to ease debt burden and realize sustainable development.

BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS WANIGASEKERA

Social, religious and political issues have been associated with the Catholic Church, which arrived in Sri Lanka with the invasion of the Portuguese in 1505, and the church had several conflicts with the government. Historical information related to the Christian churches in Sri Lanka evidence that the church always attempted to not involve in political issues except for the nationalization of catholic schools.

It was a remarkable situation and people agreed with the church’s stand. However, the ARAGALAYA has brought a negative stand for the church and Rev.Balangoda Kassapa publicly expressed that the church has been supporting the ARAGALAYA against Buddhism. Was the statement of Rev Kassapa true and why did the church involve in activities contrary to the religious reconciliation introduced by the Second Vatical council? 

Garvin Karunaratne, Phd Michigan State University

I would request our leaders- the President, the Prime Minister and the Governor of the Central Bank  to please consider approving the implementation of a new programme to create employment and also create the production of all items that we imported. It could be on the lines of the Divisional Development Councils Programme(DDCP) of the Sirimavo days, amended as follows. The DDCP only aimed at creating very small  industries and small scale agricultural projects. This was expanded in Matara by me to include medium sized industries, a mecanized boatyard making seagoing fishing boats and by the Divisional Sec at Kotmale, by his Paper Making industry,made by recycling waste paper. I also established the Crayon Factory in Deniyaya and this was done via the Morawaka Cooperative with MP Sumanapala Dahanayake at its head. The DDCP did succeed in creating a large number of small industries and at least 25,000 successful agriculturists. In addition the three industries were a great success. 

Let us in the new programme have a grassroots level small agricultural and small industry unit like in the DDCP in ever Grama Nilardhari area and in addition have at least one  small scale industry in each Div Sec Area. The cost is very low as this will be done by the GA,Div Secs and a host of other officers like Dev Officers etc already is service today. Stipend payments will have to be made to the people who work till the projects become income generating. In the scale of small industries there will be an initial  payment in dollars to import say a smallscale paper making or food processing unit but that outlay will be covered in a years imports that will be avoided.  

If approved I can do a draft programme on this basis to be considered. This is a programme that will get off the ground in a few weeks. It will cost very little. Please consider. This is what the country needs right now.

I am speaking through sheer experience of handling, starting new programmes. My Youth Self Employment Programme in Bangladesh which I started from scratch in April 1982 is today the premier programme  of employment creation the world has known with over three million youths guided to be employed. In the Manifesto for the Mayorship of the Colombo Municipality High Commissioner MilindaMoragoda hailed this Programme. That was in 2011 when this YSEP had created a million youths self employed. Now the number self employed is over three million.  

Pease consider my request.

Garvin Karunaratne, PhdMichigan State University
 garvin_karunaratne @hotmail.com 

Professor Dr. Nishan C. Wijesinha (Sarasota)

I can recall back to when Mr. Wickremesinghe was made the Minister of Education on 14 February 1980; where Mr. Wickremesinghe promised educational reforms. We were then studying for our A/L’s at STC Mount; and all of us with the O/L batch sent a communique requesting that O/L curriculum be made to 6 subjects, allowing students to take part in extra-curricular activities, and the A/L to 3 subjects.

In our communique we requested that O/L substitute subjects for the following be offered for students, as everyone is not of equal IQ to adapt to a rigid syllabus. Those were, Math to General Accounting, and General Science to Sports Science Techniques and Pre and Post-Harvest Techniques.

As usual the secretary concerned pushed-forward a proposal which was spiteful to ours, and pushed forward an agenda made to offer schools extended closing and opening hours, with a multi grain biscuit for lunch or at interval time. This eventually brought-in much criticism from parents as it led to restrictions of a real meal to the children at lunch time, as well as on the other hand it was illogical, and also crashing with inter-school events such as rugger and hockey.

Now that Mr. Wickremesinghe is the incumbent President of the Republic, I request for the Educational Reforms to be made as aforementioned.

 Lanka Lead News

විජේදාස රාජපක්ෂ මහතා විසින් ගෙනඑන ලබන ව්‍යවස්ථා මගෝඩියට මේ රටේ පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රීවරු ගොදුරු නොවිය යුතු බවත් එසේ වුවහොත් මෙරටේ ජනතාව මන්ත්‍රීවරුන්ගේ කාර්යභාරය භෞතික වශයෙන් අවසන් කිරීමට කටයුතු කරනු ඇති බවත් වෛද්‍ය වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර මහතා සදහන් කළේය.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සිදුවූ ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන මගෝඩි පිළිබඳව සහ විශේෂයෙන්ම විජයදාස රාජපක්ෂ මහතා අධිකරණ ඇමතිවරයා ලෙස සිදු කළ දේ පිළිබඳව විග්‍රහයක් සහිත ග්‍රන්ථයක් අද දින( 01) නිදහස් චතුරස්‍රයේ පුස්තකාල සහ සේවා මණ්ඩල ශ්‍රවනාගාරයේදී එළි දැක්වීමට එක් වෙමින් ඒ මහතා මෙසේ සදහන් කළේය.

එසේම අධ්‍යාත්මය සිදගෙන ජීවත් වුවත් ඉන් පළක් නොමැති බව සදහන් කළ වසන්ත බණ්ඩාර මහතා පැවසුවේ මීට ගොදුරු වී මේ රටේ ඒකීය භාවය වෙනුවෙන් දිවිපිදු 30000 තරුණ තරුණියන්ගේ සහ අත් පා ඇස් අහිමිකරගත් තවත් 30000කට අධික මිනිසුන්ගේ නාමයෙන් මීට ගොදුරු නොවන ලෙසත් එසේ වුවහොත් පාර්ලිමේන්තුවේ මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් 225ම කාර්යභාරය අවසන් කිරීමට මේ රටේ ජනතාව පෙළගැස්සවීමටද පසුබට නොවන බවයි.

එහිදී අදහස් දක්වමින් මෙතෙක් ලංකාවේ ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධන සම්බන්ධයෙන් සිදුකළ මගෝඩි සම්බන්ධව විශේෂ හෙළිදරව්වක් එම කෘතියේ කර්තෘ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ නීතිඥ කල්‍යානන්ද තිරාණගම මහතා විසින් සිදුකරනු ලැබීය.

මෙම කෘතිය පිළිගැන්වීම සිදුකරනු ලැබුවේ හිටපු අගවිනිසුරු සරත් නන්ද සිල්වා මහතාටය. එය එළිදැක්වීමේ උත්සවය ආචාර්ය ගුණදාස අමරසේකර මහතාගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් පැවැත්විණි.

Courtesy Adaderana

Beleaguered former Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa returned to the island a short while ago (Sep 02), Ada Derana correspondent says.

Rajapaksa fled the country after months-long mass public demonstrations demanding his immediate resignation gained momentum in July after protesters stormed the President’s House in Colombo and several other state buildings in the capital.

He reached the Maldives late on July 12, with his wife Ioma Rajapaksa and two security officers in a military plane. Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) later confirmed that it provided a military plane for Rajapaksa’s departure upon a request made by the incumbent government.

Rajapaksa subsequently travelled to Singapore on a Saudi Airlines flight from the Maldives. He reached Changi International Airport in Singapore on July 14. His stay was later extended by the Singaporean authorities, issuing him another 14-day visit pass expiring on August 11.

The Singapore government clarified that Rajapaksa was on a private visit and not granted asylum. During his temporary stay in Singapore, Rajapaksa tendered his letter of resignation to Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, officially stepping down from the presidency.

The 73-year-old then flew to Thailand, seeking temporary shelter. Thailand’s foreign minister Don Pramudwinai clarified that Rajapaksa can stay in Thailand for 90 days because he is still a diplomatic passport holder.

After Rajapaksa was ousted, the island’s parliament elected then-Acting President and six-time former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the new Head of State. He had the backing of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the largest bloc in the 225-member parliament.

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Courtesy Hiru News

Developing Countries Trading Scheme will offer Sri Lanka the opportunity to benefit from duty- free schees for a range of goods exported to UK according to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has stated this while sending a congratulatory message to the President.

The UK Government announced the launch of the Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) effective from early next year, replacing its Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) scheme.

DCTS applies to 65 countries including Sri Lanka, offering lower tariffs and simpler rules of origin requirements for exporting to the UK.

Sri Lanka has been categorised under those eligible for “Enhanced Framework/Preferences” along with Bolivia, Cape Verde, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Philippines and Uzbekistan. The other three categories are Comprehensive preferences (with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal among recipients), Standard preferences (India, Indonesia among others) and Economic Partnership Agreement.

The UK Government is also lowering or removing tariffs on an additional 156 products in DCTS Enhanced Preferences. The result of this change is that more than 85% of eligible lines now benefit from zero tariffs in DCTS Enhanced Preferences, covering trade worth around £ 2 billion.

Courtesy Hiru News

02 September 2022: Fitch Ratings-Hong Kong releasing a statement titled “Onus on Debt Negotiations after Sri Lanka’s IMF Staff Agreement” comments on the IMF agreement and the current context in Sri Lanka.

The Text of the Statement is as follows;

The IMF staff-level agreement with Sri Lanka on a USD2.9 billion programme, confirmed on 1 September, appears to signal a sharp change in policy settings in order to achieve macroeconomic stability, including through large fiscal adjustment, greater exchange-rate flexibility and more central bank autonomy, says Fitch Ratings. This should facilitate negotiations with official and private creditors, but the timing of any debt restructuring agreement remains uncertain.

The Extended Fund Facility will not be approved by the IMF’s Executive Board until the government has implemented a number of agreed prior actions (not publicly specified), financing assurances have been received from official creditors, and good faith efforts have been made to reach agreement with private creditors. The IMF has assessed Sri Lanka’s debt burden as unsustainable, so the outcome of negotiations with creditors should involve debt relief.

Tax reform will be an important element of the agreed programme. Personal income tax will be made more progressive and corporate income tax and VAT will be broadened, with a goal of achieving a primary fiscal surplus of 2.3% of GDP by 2025, compared with a deficit of 5.7% in 2021.

In line with this, the interim 2022 budget unveiled by the new government on 30 August laid out plans to raise the standard rate of VAT to 15% from 12% from 1 September, and proposed compulsory tax registration for all residents aged over 18 years. The budget sought to raise government revenue/GDP from 8.2% in 2021 to 15% by 2025, and to reduce public debt/GDP from around 110% at end-2021 to not more than 100% in the medium term. The revised budget deficit for 2022 is projected at 9.8% of GDP, up from 8.8% of GDP in the original 2022 budget.

We believe the government has some room to reduce capex, but its non-discretionary expenditure is large. Interest payments and wages were equivalent to 1.3x government revenue in 2021. We expect additional revenue raising to be the main driver of fiscal consolidation, but the budget signalled there will be reallocation of expenditure towards social spending to cushion the effects of the economic crisis.

Political instability will pose risks to the implementation of reforms and the distribution of IMF funding, even if a debt restructuring is agreed. Additional social spending may not be sufficient to prevent public opposition, particularly given that the government’s public support appears weak, in our assessment, and that the economic growth recovery in 2023-2024 will be constrained by the strong fiscal consolidation.

Fitch rates Sri Lanka’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency (LTFC) Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘RD’ (Restricted Default). The Long-Term Local-Currency IDR is CCC and is Under Criteria Observation following our introduction of +/- modifiers in the CCC category. A default on local-currency debt could have adverse effects on Sri Lanka’s banking sector that would erode the net benefits of such a restructuring.

When we affirmed the Long-Term Local-Currency IDR in May, we assumed that the government would continue to service local-currency debt. Nonetheless, CCC rating reflects a high risk that local-currency debt will be included in debt restructuring, as the stock and interest costs are large, and omitting it could increase the restructuring burden on holders of foreign-currency debt. The central bank governor in late August affirmed that Sri Lanka would not restructure domestic debt, but this was partly in response to comments from President Wickremesinghe that appeared to suggest that this policy option was being examined.

Fitch may move Sri Lanka’s LTFC IDR out of RD upon the sovereign’s completion of a commercial debt restructuring that we judge to have normalised the relationship with the international financial community.

Courtesy Hiru News

Chinese embassy states that they have been always encouraging the IMF and other international financial institutions to continue to play a positive role in Sri Lanka.

As a traditional friendly neighbor of Sri Lanka and a major shareholder of the International Monetary Fund, China has been always encouraging the IMF and other international financial institutions to continue to play a positive role in supporting Sri Lanka’s response to current difficulties and efforts to ease debt burden and realize sustainable development.

As to the bilateral financial cooperation, shortly after the Sri Lankan government announced to suspend international debt payments in April 2022, Chinese financial institutions reached out to the Sri Lankan side and expressed their readiness to find a proper way to handle the matured debts related to China and help Sri Lanka to overcome the current difficulties. We hope Sri Lanka will work actively with China in a similar spirit and work out a feasible solution expeditiously.

Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J G1 Canada

1 September 2022

Editor (Letters)

THE OTTAWA CITIZEN

This is in response to Les Bovell on “Many fear wrongly being called racist”,who is Black and immigrated here in 1969, believes that he was treated well in Canada as a “black” immigrant.   “Lucky You.  Congratulations”, I say to him.

I am a coloured Asian who immigrated on an invitation by the National Museums Corporation in October 1970, doesn’t  feel I was that lucky as he was, and he should be considered to be one of the very few lucky visible minorities who entered Canada then.

My story needs to be told and heard to understand the deck of “Racism” in Canada.  The story happened in the 1970s.

The Victoria Memorial Museum in Ottawa had been gutted in 1969 with the promise to the public that it will be reopened in one year with 15  new exhibition Halls.  And National Museums Corporation had formed a new Design and Display Division, at 39 McArthur Road,  to accomplish that task.  This new Division, had appointed  a Chief Tom Wood, (War Artist, and Manager of the Canada Pavilion at Osaka); Head of Design Jacques Saint Cyr (designer of the 11-point maple leaf of the National flag);  Manager of Administration Charlie Jessop  (Rtd. Major of the Army); and Head of Thematic Research (was still not filled as they were searching for a competent Liberal Scientist to fill that position).

With their head-hunting, they found me, a Liberal scientist in London, England,  recommended by the Head of the Department of’ Geology, Dr,.Ward Neale, at Memorial University in Newfoundland, who having witnessed the success I had in filling the 12 wall exhibit showcases with rotating geology exhibits that had been empty for almost 20 years. 

 The success showed by the students gathering around them at lunch hours, to study the lessons in three dimensions. As a Liberal scientist, I suppose the National Museums Corporation felt that I qualified to take on the job being a research scientist (Geologist-Palaeontologist-Stratigrapher), an award winning published poet in London, UK,; ‘award winning sculptor in Swansea, Wales; award winning competition ballroom dancer;  pianist and so forth).

I arrived in Ottawa on October 16, 1970, and started work on 1 November 1970,   By then all the staff at Design and Display were on contract.

On the last week in March 1971, Tom Wood,  Jacques Saint Cyr, Charlie Jessop and I received letters from the Public

Service Commision  (PSC) to come over to sign the letters of permanency  to begin  as permanent employees in the Federal Government as of 1st April.   All of us were ecstatic.

On Monday morning I got a call from the  PSC, and the voice on the phone said, “Mr. Weerasinghe, please ignore the letter that we sent you about the permanency. It was sent to you by error.” “Why is there a problem?” I asked.

“Yes, we have decided to open the competition for your job across Canada,”

“Are the other three coming over to sign the permanency papers?”  “Yes” was the answer.

“Let’s cut out this ‘Bull’.  You all couldn’t find anyone qualified for the job.  You found me in London, England,  and invited me to come over.  And here I am.  Are you trying to tell me that there is an aparthied policy in hiring  candidates for management jobs in Canada?”

” Is it a case of “If you are white, you’re alright…If you are black, stay back…..and if you are brown,’stick’around.’  I am Asian and I happen to be brown, and I have no intention to stick around.  If I knew that there was an aparthied policy in hiring, I would have not stepped on to this land of  your Canada.  Let me know by noon on Wednesday if you want my services or not.  If you don’t I will be on the first plane out of Canada on my way back to where I came from London, England.”

The Directors, Chiefs and  the  Deputy Minister were upset with the turn of events.  The place was on fire.  Later that day,

 Dr. Luis Lemeiux (Director of the National Museum of Natural Sciences); Dr. Bill Taylor (Director of the Museum of Man), Tom Wood, Jacques Saint Cyr and Charlie Jessop came to my Office  with red-faces of embarrassment to apologize.  And Mr. MacKenzie,  

The Deputy Minister for Museums came to my Office and apologized and asked me  not to leave, and that there will be a call from the PSC for me to get over to sign the papers  of permanency,

Towards the end of the day, I got a call from a staff member from PSC, telling me, “Mr. Weerasinghe’ we are sorry about the confusion”, “Let’s stop this baloney…there was no confusion…You knew exactly what happened.,  You all did not want to see a brown face sitting at the desk occupying the position of the Head of Thematic Research Section, at the Design and Display Division of the National Museums of Canada,

I will be with you tomorrow morning”.  And that was my introduction to Canada.

I understood why the National Museums insisted that the Head of Thematic Research should be a Liberal Scientist.

One day, Dr. Bill Taylor, the Director of the Museum of Man called me into his office.  He told me “Asoka, we are in trouble with the Orientation Hall as the two curators  who were supposed to be coming up with a storyline have had difficulty agreeing with its content.  Asoka, you are an anthropologist and a poet, why don’t you hide yourself for two days and come up with a long poem on the subject,  So I did.  My Trail of Mankind was adapted as the storyline for the Orientation Hall without any changes.  The poem was sold  at the gift store with colour photos of the murals for  one dollar.

It acknowledged me as the poet.

The first two floors of the Victoria Memorial Museum were opened by Prime Minister PierreTrudeau on October 4, 1974, and I was given the honour to take him and his wife around explaining the contents of the exhibition Halls.

The bottom line was, I am a proud, hardworking and an honest  Sri Lankan-Sinhalese, and absolutely no one was going to destroy my dignity because I am covered all over with a natural brown skin. 

There were two other incidents of racism.  One at the Museums in 1975, and the other at the  Medical Services Branch of Health and Welfare Canada in 1979,  It is upsetting for me to regurgitate those “racist”  incidents , so I will stop there.

And all this is my Canada.  Not as lucky  as Les Bovell of Ottawa.

Asoka Weerasinghe

Manusha Media

විදේශ ගත ශ්‍රමිකයින්ට ගුවන්තොටුපොලේදී ගෞරවනීය පිළිගැනීමක් ලබාදෙමින්, විදේශ ගත ශ්‍රමිකයින් සදහාම වෙන්වූ විශේෂ පිවිසුම් ද්වාරය, HOPE GATE නමින් වරාය, නාවික හා ගුවන් සේවා අමාත්‍ය නිමල් සිරිපාල ද සිල්වා මහතා සහ කම්කරු සහ විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍ය මනුෂ නානායක්කාර මහතා අතින් අද (01) උදෑසන විවෘත විය.

ඒ අනුව කටුනායක ගුවන්තොටුපොලෙන් විදේශ රටකට පිටත්ව යන ශ්‍රමිකයාට මෙන්ම විදේශ රැකියාවක නිරතව සිට මෙරටට පැමිණෙන ශ්‍රමිකයින් සදහා මෙම නව පිවිසුම් ද්වාරය විවෘත වේ. ඒ අනුව ගුවන්තොටුපොලේදී විදේශ ගත ශ්‍රමිකයාට අවශ්‍ය සියලුම පහසුකම් ලබාදීමට නියමිත අතර, ඒ සදහා සහාය ලබාදීමට විශේෂ සත්කාරක සේවා සැපයීමේ කණ්ඩායමක්ද යොදවා තිබේ.

HOPE GATE හරහා ඉදිරියේදී  විදේශ ගත ශ්‍රමිකයින් සදහා වෙන්වූ විශේෂ විවේක පහසුකම් ලබාගැනීමේ ස්ථානයක්ද ගුවන්තොටුපොලේ ස්ථාපිත කිරීමට නියමිතව ඇත.


මුදල් හෝ බලය ඇති පිරිසට ගුවන් තොටේ දී ලැබෙන වීඅයිපී පහසුකම විගමනික ශ්‍රමිකයන්ටත් ඒ ලෙසින් ම ලබා දෙන බවත්, HOPE GATE යනු විදෙස්ගත වන ශ්‍රමිකයා පිටවන හෝ පැමිණෙන දොරටුව පමණක් නොව රටේ අනාගතය ම ගොඩනැගීමේ බලාපොරොත්තුවේ ස්වර්ණමය ද්වාරය බවත්, කම්කරු හා විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍ය මනුෂ නානායක්කාර මහතා මෙය විවෘත කිරීමේ අවස්ථාවට එක්වෙමින් පැවැසීය.

එහි දී මනුෂ නානායක්කාර ඇමැතිවරයා මෙසේ ද පැවැසීය.

පුංචි පිරිසක් එකතු වෙලා ලොකු අවදානමක් එක්ක මේ රට භාර ගනිද්දී අපිට තිබුණේ පුංචි බලාපොරාත්තුවක් විතරයි. ඒ කොහොම හරි මේ රට ගොඩනගනනවා කියන අපේක්ෂාව. දරුණු ආර්ථික අර්බුදයකින් අරාජික වෙලා තිබුණු රටට අපි බලාපොරොත්තුවක් දුන්නා. අද ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදල මාස හතළිස් අටක කාලයකට ඩොලර් බිලියන 2.9ක් ලබා දෙන්න කාර්ය මණ්ඩල එකගතාවට ඇවිත් තියෙනවා. රටේ අනාගතයට පුංචි කොළ එළියක බලාපොරොත්තුවක් දැල් වෙලා තියෙනවා. දවස් ගාණක් තෙල් පෝලිමේ, ගෑස් පෝලිමේ, බෙහෙත් පෝලිමේ හිටිය අපිට දැන් ඒ පෝලිම් ඉවර වෙයි කියන බලාපොරොත්තුව තියෙනවා. රුපියල් පන්සීයට යයි කියලා හිතපු ඩොලරය පවතින් මට්ටමේ ම තියෙයි කියන බලාපොරොත්තුව තියෙනවා. මේ සියල්ල පටන් ගත්තේ පුංචි බලාපොරාත්තුවකින්.

කෙනෙක් විදෙස්ගත වෙන්නෙත් තමන්ගේ ජීවිතය ගොඩනගා ගැනීමේ බලාපොරොත්තුව ඇතිවයි. හොද නිවසක්, වාහනයක්, දරුවන්ට අධ්‍යාපනයක් වගේ ම ඉහළ ජීවන තත්ත්වයක බලාපොරොත්තුවෙන්. මේ පිරිස තමන්ගේ බලාපොරොත්තු ඉටුකර ගත්තාම ඒ ඉටුවෙන්නේ රටේත් බලාපොරොත්තුව. මොකද ඔවුන් එවන මුදලින් තමයි රටට අවශ්‍ය ආනයන සම්පාදනය කර ගන්නේ. එතකොටයි අපි හැමෝම බලාපොරොත්තු වෙන රට අපට නිර්මාණය කර ගන්න පුළුවන් වෙන්නේ. ඒ සදහා මේ දොරටුවෙන් පිටවෙන ශ්‍රමිකයා මුලින් තමන්ගේ බලාපොරොත්තු සාක්ෂාත් කරගන්න ඕනෑ. ඒ නිසයි මේක හෝප් ගේට් එකක්, බලාපොරොත්තුවේ දොරටුවක් වෙන්නේ. ඒකට අපි භෞතික ව විතරක් නෙවෙයි මනසිනුත් දියුණු වෙන්න ඕනෑ. ඒ දියුණු රට ගොඩනැගීම තමයි අපි හැමෝගෙම බලාපොරොත්තුව වෙන්නේ.

ඒ නිසා මුදල් සහ බලය තියෙන පිරිසට සීමා වී තියෙන වීඅයිපී පහසුකම මේ ද්වාරයෙන් පිටව යන සියලු විගමනික ශ්‍රමිකයන්ටත් ලබා දෙන්න කටයුතු කරනවා. මේ පිරිස යන්නේ රටට ඩොලර් රැගෙන එන්න මිස රටේ ඩොලර් වියදම් කරන්න නෙවෙයි. ඒ නිසා ගුවන් තොටුපලේ දී විගමනික ශ්‍රමිකයාට අවශ්‍ය සියලු පහසුකම් සහ ගෞරවය ලබා දිය යුතුයි. ඒකට දියුණු ආකල්ප සහිත, සියලු දෙනාට ම සහ වෘත්තීන්ට ම එක හා සමානව ගරු කරන මනා ශික්ෂණයක් සහ පුහුණුවක් ලත් කණ්ඩායමක් විසින් සේවා ලබා දිය යුතුයි. ගුවන් තොටුපළේත්, ගුවන් යානයේත් විගමණික ශ්‍රමිකයාට ලැබුණු තුන්වැනි පංතියේ සැලකීම අවසන් විය යුතුයි. ඒක රාජකාරියෙන් ඔබ්බට ගිහින් හදවතින් ම කළ යුතු කාර්යයක්.

රැකියාවට විදෙස්ගත වන ශ්‍රමිකයාත් තමන්ගේත්, රටේත් බලාපොරොත්තු ඉටුකරගෙන, තවත් පිරිසකට මේ බලාපොරොත්තුවේ දොරටුවෙන් පිටවෙන්න අවශ්‍ය පසුබිම ආරක්ෂා කරගෙන රැකියාව කළ යුතුයි. වැදගත් විදියට හම්බ කරලා, වැදගත් විදියට මුදල් එවන වැදගත් ශ්‍රමිකයන්ට වැදගත් විදියට සලකන්නත් අපි සූදානම්. මේ දේවල් කළා වගේ ම ලබන සතිය වෙද්දී විශ්‍රාම වැටුපත් ආරම්භ කරනවා. ඒ වගේ ම සමන පොලී සමග විශේෂ නිවාස ණය වැඩසටහනකුත් ඉදිරියේ දී ක්‍රියාත්මක කරනවා. ඒ සියල්ලට හිමිකම් තියෙන්නේ විදේශ සේවා නියුක්ති කාර්යංශයේ ලියාපදිංචි වුණු පිරිසට පමණයි.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට එක් ව සිටි නිමල් සිරිපාල ද සිල්වා අමාත්‍යවරයා මෙසේ පැවැසී ය.

මේ රටේ ජාතික අවශ්‍යතාවයක් පරිපූර්ණ කිරීමට මනුෂ නානායක්කාර ඇමැතිතුමා ඉතා නිර්මාණශීලී වැඩපිළිවෙළ රැසක් ක්‍රියාවට නංවලා තියෙනවා. ඉන් එකක් තමයි මේ බලාපොරොත්තුවේ ද්වාරය. මෙච්චර කාලයක් විදස්ගත ශ්‍රමිකයන්ට රටවිරුවා කියලා වචනෙන් විතරයි සැලකුවේ.

දේශපාලනඥයන්ට ගුවන්තොටේ වෙනම වීඅයිපී ද්වාරයක් තියෙනවා. අතේ මිටේ තියෙන අයට වගේ ම ඩොලර් වලින් ගෙවන අයටත් විශේෂ පහසුකම් සහිත වීඅයිපී ද්වාර තියෙනවා.  අද ඉදන් අනෙකුත් ගුවන් මගීන් අතරින් විගමනික ශ්‍රමිකයන්ටත් විශේෂත්වයක් සහිත ව ගෞරවාන්විත ව පිටවීමට, පැමිණීමට, පිළිගැනීමට සහ පහසුකම් සැපැයීමට වීඅයිපී ද්වාරයක් විවෘත වෙනවා. දේශපාලනඥයාට, ව්‍යාපාරිකයාට ලබා දෙන සැලකිල්ල, පිළිගැනීම, පහසුකම් සහ සේවාවවන් විගමනික ශ්‍රමිකයාටත් ඒ විදියට ම ලබා දීම තමයි මේ ද්වාරය විවෘත කිරීමේ අරමුණ. විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍යවරයා විදියට මනුෂ නානායක්කාර මහතාගේ සංකල්පයකට මේ විදියට පණ දෙන්න ලැබුණු එක ගැන විෂය භාර අමාත්‍යවරයා විදියට ඉතාමත් සතුටු වෙනවා.  එසේ ම විගමණික ශ්‍රමිකයන්ට කුළී රථ රියදුරන්ගෙන් නොයෙක් අකටයුතුකම් වන බවටත් පැමිණිලි ලැබිලා තියෙනවා. ඉදිරියේ දී විගමණික ශ්‍රමිකයන් වෙනුවෙන් ම වෙන් වූ විශේෂ ප්‍රවාහන පහසුකම් සපයා දෙන්නටත් ගුවන්තොටුපල කාර්යයන්වල දී සහය වීම පිණිස පුහුණු කරන ලද විශේෂ නිලධාරීන් කණ්ඩායමක් ද යෙදවීමටත් කටයුතු කරනවා.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට වරාය, නාවික හා ගුවන් සේවා අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම් කේ.ඩී.එස්. රුවන්චන්ද්‍ර, ආගමන විගමන පාලක හර්ෂ ඉලුක්පිටිය, ගුවන්තොටුපොල සහ ගුවන්තොටුපොල සේවා සමාගමේ සභාපති විශ්‍රමික මේජර් ජනරාල් ජී.ඒ. චන්ද්‍රසිරි, ශ්‍රී ලංකා විදේශ සේවා නියුක්ති කාර්යාංශයේ සභාපති මහේන්ද්‍ර කුමාරසිංහ, ශ්‍රී ලංකා විදේශ සේවා නියුක්ති කාර්යාංශයේ සාමාන්‍යාධිකාරී ඩී.ඩී.පී. සේනානායක යන මහත්වරුද විගමනික ශ්‍රමිකයෝද එක්ව සිටියහ. Video Link – https://we.tl/t-NoGTNChmEI

උපුටා ගැන්ම ලංකා සී නිව්ස්

ගාලුමුවදොර මූලික කරගෙන ඇති වූ අරගලයේ බුද්ධාගම තැනක් නොතිබූ බවත් කතෝලික ආගමට ඊට වඩා තැනක් තිබූ බවත් බලංගොඩ කස්සප හිමියෝ සඳහන් කරති.

එම අරගලයට සම්බන්ධ වූ පළමු භික්ෂූන් වහන්සේ තමන් බව ද පැවසූ උන්වහන්සේ කතෝලික පියතුමන්ලාට එක විදිහට සලකමින් භික්ෂූන්ට වෙන විදිහකට සලකන බවත් කියා සිටිති.

කතෝලික පල්ලිය විසින් අරගලයට ආධාර කළ බවත් ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ හා පෙරටුගාමී සමාජවාදී පක්ෂය අරගලයට රිංගා එය විනාශ කර දැමූ බවත් උන්වහන්සේ පැවසූහ.

අද වන විට ජනතාවට අරගලයේ එපා වී ඇති බවත් මොන පක්ෂ කිව්වත් මිනිහෙක් අද පාරට නොබහින බවත් උන්වහන්සේ තව දුරටත් කියා සිටියහ.

අන්තර්ජාල නාලිකාවක සාකච්ඡාවක දී උන්වහන්සේ මෙම අදහස් පල කරන ලදී.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

IMF yesterday confirmed that a wealth tax is part of the agreement entered with the Sri Lankan authorities. 
There was much speculation that the interim budget presented in Parliament this week by President Ranil Wickremesinghe would contain wealth tax as a revenue proposal. But it only contained a proposal to increase the VAT rate to 15 percent from 12 percent.  IMF mission chief for Sri Lanka Masahiro Nozaki pointed out that Sri Lanka’s tax collection is inadequate and the country has a very low tax to GDP ratio. He said there is a clear need to raise tax revenue to support the fiscal adjustments required and to reduce the fiscal deficit.  

The tax reforms under the programme need to be progressing. It means that ensuring greater contribution from high income earners to minimise the impact of fiscal adjustment on the vulnerable and the poor.

In this context, one of the ways to ensure progressivity of tax measures is to use personal income tax, including higher tax rate for high income earners, and here the wealth tax is coming in as you mentioned,” Nozaki said.
On the wealth tax, I would say it’s part of the discussion and part of the agreement in the staff level agreement with the authorities. The preparation of it will take time—how it will be designed, is going to be discussed with the authorities in an appropriate time frame,” he added.  With the assistance of the IMF, the government between 2015 and 2019 introduced a new tax law to Sri Lanka. But it was scrapped by the government that came into power in 2019 and introduced sweeping tax cuts.  Raising government revenue via tax reforms usually consists a major part of the policy framework recommended by the IMF towards fiscal consolidation. 

Under the latest programme with the IMF, Sri Lanka is expected to implement major tax reforms, including making personal income tax more progressive and broadening the tax base for corporate income tax and VAT,” the statement issued by the IMF yesterday, stated. The programme aims to reach a primary surplus of 2.3 percent of GDP by 2025,” it added.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

As a traditional friendly neighbour of Sri Lanka and a major shareholder of the International Monetary Fund, China has always been encouraging the IMF and other international financial institutions to continue to play a positive role in supporting Sri Lanka’s response to current difficulties and efforts to ease the debt burden and realize sustainable development, the Chinese embassy said in a statement.

The statement said as to the bilateral financial cooperation, shortly after the Sri Lankan government announced to suspend international debt payments in April 2022, Chinese financial institutions reached out to the Sri Lankan side and expressed their readiness to find a proper way to handle the matured debts related to China and help Sri Lanka to overcome the current difficulties. We hope Sri Lanka will work actively with China in a similar spirit and work out a feasible solution expeditiously.

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka’s 2023 Budget needs to be consistent with the economic reforms program and macroeconomic framework under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program, says Peter Breuer, Chief of the Debt Capital Markets Division, Monetary and Capital Market Department.

IMF staff and the Sri Lankan authorities announced this morning that they have reached a staff-level agreement to support the island nation’s economic policies with a 48-month arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of about USD 2.9 billion.

Mr. Breuer told reporters that the staff-level agreement is a signal of the commitment by the authorities for significant, comprehensive economic reforms package.

Responding to a question, the IMF mission chief said these reforms are a credible device to show to creditors that Sri Lanka is serious about engaging in reforms. It assures creditors that Sri Lanka is doing everything that is needed to restore the payment capacity, he added.

Mr. Breuer also underscored the importance of having a forum where creditors and the debtor can have discussions where the debtor is given the opportunity to explain how they got to the situation and the measures it is taking to overcome the crisis.

Speaking further, he said Sri Lanka will have to continue negotiations with creditors to get the financing assurances to restructure its debt. For this engagement with official creditors and private creditors is of importance, he added.

Courtesy Adaderana

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said that the government was able to reach a staff level agreement this morning to obtain an extended fund facility of USD 2.9 billion dollars from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that will operate for a period of four years.

Speaking in Parliament today (01), the Prime Minister also mentioned that after obtaining the approval of the International Monetary Fund’s Executive Board, the official bilateral level discussion will be followed.

Various weaknesses and wrong policy decisions ultimately led to debt default and pushed the country into a deep economic crisis and in order to recover from this crisis, similar deep and comprehensive economic reforms have to be carried out, the Prime Minister emphasized. 

He also mentioned that it is necessary to carry out these reforms regardless of which party is in power.

Full speech of Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena is as follows:

Hon. Deputy Speaker,

This morning, the government was able to reach an agreement at the staff level to obtain an extended fund facility of USD 2.9 billion from the International Monetary Fund, which will operate for a period of four years. This is a very important milestone in Sri Lanka’s efforts to recover from the deep economic crisis it is facing. Sri Lanka needs an Adequate Financing Assurance from lenders that they will help achieve debt sustainability in Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring programs following the staff -level agreement.

After that, it is necessary to obtain the approval of the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund. Official Bilateral Level Discussion is scheduled to start next. At the same time, we are given opportunities to obtain loans from bilateral and multilateral development partners. Through that, we will get funds for essential activities, and we will be able to gradually restore the economy and people’s lives. Although today’s agreement is a sign of great progress in our efforts, we must remember that this is only the beginning and we have a long way to go.

In the future, we will have to make great sacrifices to find solutions to this economic crisis. For decades we have had a higher consumption comparative to what we had saved. As a result, our debt has increased greatly. The income of the country has decreased to a very low level due to various reasons. Because of this, we have not been able to invest more in important sectors like health, education and public transport. We have been consuming utilities such as petroleum and electricity at low prices in the country for a long time. As a result, a large trade deficit was created and exchange rates weakened. Public sector has been mismanaged for decades. As a result, those institutions suffered huge losses. It also created a huge tax burden on the public.

Various weaknesses and wrong policy decisions ultimately led to debt default and plunged the country into a deep economic crisis. To recover from this crisis, similar deep and comprehensive economic reforms have to be carried out. No matter who is in power, these reforms are necessary. Only then can sustainable and broad-based economic growth be achieved.

In the past five months, the government has prepared programs that include these reforms. Those programs have now received official approval. More challenging is the implementation of these difficult reforms. The government also knows that it is very difficult to carry out these reforms in a situation where the people are suffering economically. Therefore, the essential point is to understand why these reforms are necessary to save the country in the med-term and long-term and thereafter to ultimately achieve higher development. I would also like to remind you that the President and our government are committed to put the bankrupt country back on the path of development and to inherit a good future for our future generations.

Finally, I would like to say that after reaching an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, we will present further details to this Parliament. Thank you.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe says that huge tax cuts in 2019 and extensive money printing to settle debts triggered the worst economic crisis in the history of the country.

He also stated that the government of Sri Lanka and the Central Bank had already defaulted even before the debt standstill was announced.

He said the country has USD 7.6 billion in reserves, but when he took over as the central bank governor in April 2022 usable reserves had already plummeted to just USD 20 million.  

Already the Central Bank and the Government had already defaulted. Even before we announced the debt standstill,” he said. 

The Governor stated this while addressing the dialogue held at the Parliament Complex yesterday (31) titled The Current Economic Status and The Way Forward”.

This program was organized by the Parliament Secretariat in order to ensure the active participation of the Members of Parliament in parliamentary debates and to create an effective discourse on the current economic situation and the future economic path of the country.

Governor Weerasinghe further said that in the event of an economic crisis, the low-income groups should be protected first and therefore money should be allocated for social security networks to protect them.

He pointed out that if the economic difficulties faced by low-income groups increase, the such groups may take to the streets and because of this, riots may occur in the country. Therefore, he further pointed out that by dividing the economic burden between the high-income and low-income groups, the economy should be stabilized by controlling the discomfort caused to the low-income groups.

He also pointed out the need to increase government revenue by controlling borrowing. He also said that the current inflation should be controlled and the export income should be increased and further emphasized that it is important to manage the government income and expenditure.

Dr. Weerasinghe pointed out that by restricting imports, the cost of 2 billion last year was reduced to 1.3 billion this year said that it was possible to buy essential items such as medicine, mineral oil and gas. He explained that especially the current state income is about 1.2 billion and if it is possible to control the state expenditure by restricting the import of non-essential items, it will be important for the state income.

The CBSL Governor further stated that solving this crisis is something that cannot be done in two months and he believes that it will be required to bear these inconveniences at least until December of this year. He also explained that to avoid this crisis, the state revenue should be increased to at least 14-15%.

The Speaker of the Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana, Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa, Chief Opposition Whip Lakshman Kiriella and many other Ministers and Members of Parliament participated in this dialogue.

Furthermore, officials of the Parliament including Mr. Dhammika Dasanayake, Chief of Staff and Deputy Secretary General Ms. Kushani Rohanadheera were also present at the event.

Courtesy Adaderana

India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said that they have attached three immovable properties worth INR 337 million belonging to Sri Lankan nationals, linked to the banned LTTE in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering case.

The official said that a bungalow on the ECR and two agricultural lands in Thiruvannamalai district, owned by Gunasekaran alias Perama Kumar, and his son Dileep alias Thileep were attached.

Kumar was reportedly charged over the bomb attack targeting former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.

The Enforcement Directorate initiated money laundering probes on the basis of FIR registered by CID, Kancheepuram in 2020.

It is alleged that Kumar, his son, and others committed offences covered under the Foreigners Act, the Passports Act, the NDPS Act, and the Indian Penal Code.

The accused individuals had created and used fake identity cards such as PAN, Aadhar, and driving licenses over a period and stayed illegally in India.

During the course of investigation, it was found out that Kumar, Suresh Raj, Mohamed Sherif, and Raja Medura Gedara alias Gamini were involved in buying and selling of drugs, and were convicted by court for the crime in 2011.

After the completion of their jail term, they changed their identity and generated proceeds of crime. The properties attached in the instant case are all purchased after 2011 and the accused were not able to explain the source of funds used in their purchase.

It was learnt that the market value of the said immovable properties are much higher than the value mentioned in the documents.

Source: IANS

–Agencies

Shenali D Waduge

Was US using Ukraine for a bigger goal than to draw Russia into a proxy war? Did US use the Ukraine war to destabilize & weaken EU? Shouldn’t EU leaders & Europeans wake up to this unpalatable reality. While many Europeans are asking why America does not fight its own wars & why European leaders are choosing to fight America’s war at the expense of their own, no one appears to be providing the answers. US did the same to Europe during the War on Terror and Arab Spring. How many non-Europeans & even terrorists flooded to Europe which included terrorists & given safe haven in European countries where they have created sleeper cells. The present predicament finds Europeans facing difficult economic times and a cold winter all resulting in financially destabilizing Europe and reducing their clout globally. After all Victoria Nuland did say F…. the EU”.

How many Ukrainians have been given refugee status in US? 5million Ukraine refugees are, being sheltered in countries across Europe. Initially it was welcome, now signs of strain are showing on account of social assistance allocations footed by Europeans for a war they did not want.

Experts say the cost is €40bn for Europe. Ukraine war came just after Europe was preparing to recover from the pandemic. Picking up investments came to a virtual halt. If the pandemic affected jobs and employment, the Ukraine war has worsened the situation & winter without gas/energy is likely to make matters worse. The spoils of war spilling on Europe is far more than the impact to America or Americans. Economic output has reduced & prices have increased. Life is not so rosy for Europeans.

Ukraine refugees can only return if Ukraine is back on its feet & that weight has also fallen on Europe – who will foot the bills for infrastructure destroyed in Ukraine for a war Europeans did not ask for? The post-war scenario looks far worse than waging war. Russia too will have to face many ills as will Americans who anyway suffer as a result of all of America’s illegal proxy wars since independence. So who is actually benefitting from these wars?

Ukraine, Europe and even Russia have to weather far more than they have taken stock off in walking into a war without thinking of the repercussions. 

Industrial & agricultural production output is impacted, exports, cargo handling are affected, unemployment is surging, automotive industry is suffering from supply disruptions, energy crisis will mean a severe winter as a result of sanctions on Russia. Europe sanctioned Russia on request of US but will US keep Europe warm in the winter?

Sanctions by EU against Russia for invading Ukraine on 21 February 2022 is a continuance on some sanctions placed after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

EU sanctions against Russia include individual/economic & diplomatic. These include 108 entities & 1214 individuals which includes the Russian President, Russian foreign minister, former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, members of Russian parliament, Russian businessmen & Oligarchs who have travel bans & asset freezes in EU banks.

EU has sanctioned Belarus for its siding with Russia.

While EU aimed at punishing Russia – the sanctions have invariably impacted EU mostly

Sanctioning Russia has impacted Russia’s trade with EU. Bans on import & exports to Russia means the ban invariably impacts EU. EU can no longer sell products to Russia & Russia cannot export to EU or import from EU. These items include health, pharma, food, agriculture. EU cannot import crude oil, refined petroleum products, coal, gold, steel, iron, wood, seafood or liquor from Russia. Sanctioning 90% of Russia’s oil imports to Europe means adverse impact to EU as well.EU has also refused access to EU airports for Russian carriers & banned them flying over EU airspace – this impacts EU travelers as well. If three-quarters of Russia’s commercial air fleet are produced in EU, US & Canada, their profits will get affected. How has closure of EU ports to Russia’s entire merchant fleet of over 2800 vessels cost the EU? As of February 2022 Russia’s international reserves of $643b had more than half frozen.

Did Europe take stock of how vulnerable it was making itself by piggy-backing US’s war against Russia? Europe is already feeling the pinch from sanctions, trade disruptions, inflation and impact on its energy security. Had Europe’s advisors looked at this scenario.

Germany & Italy are heavily dependent on Russia gas, automotive industry & rising energy prices.

The EU is Russia’s main trading partner. Russia is the largest export market for Latvia & 2^nd largest for Lithuania. Russia wood makes up half of all Finish wood imports which is 20% of industry production & 15% of industry employment. Europe is also dependent on Russia & Belarus for fertilizers. EU relies heavily on Russian palladium (precious metal in engine exhausts to reduce emissions) Shortages has affected German & Italian automotive industry.

EU’s sanctions against Russia has impacted its energy imports – rising gas, oil, coal prices. In 2020 EU imported about 23% of oil, 40% natural gas & 45% coal from Russia. Latvia & Czech Republic receive all gas imports from Russia. Latvia & Hungry get their entire natural gas from Russia.  Russia’s state controlled Gazprom supplies 1/3 of all gas to Europe primarily because transport cost saving. Following Ukraine invasion by Russia, EU drew plans to cut gas imports – Russia’s response was to demand ‘unfriendly’ countries pay in rubles for purchase of gas.  When buyers from Poland, Denmark, Bulgaria, Finland & Netherlands refused, Russia cut off gas. Russia also cut supplies via biggest pipeline which impacted buyers in Germany, Italy, Austria & France. 40% of Italy’s demand was supplied by Russia.

US will do to India exactly what it has done to Europe. It is good for Delhi to wake up to this ground reality. If US can destabilize its ‘friends’ in Europe using a proxy-Ukraine-Russia war, what is India to US?

US has not only financially weakened Europe reducing its clout. US has benefitted by Ukraine-Russia war. US natural gas exports to Europe has increased. Euro has weakened but the US dollar has strengthened. US military-industrial industry is booming from war sales & arms purchases. With EU-Russia trade strained EU is now made dependent on US.

EU has fallen for US trap lock, stock & barrel.

Shenali D Waduge

Dr Arpita Hazarika  Gauhati University, Assam, India

After almost three years, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is going to Delhi again on a state visit on September 5. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit is very significant in India-Bangladesh bilateral relations. The Modi government also wants to give special importance to this visit. Because in the changing geo-political situation, New Delhi considers Dhaka as its most ‘trusted friend’. On September 6, the two Prime Ministers will have a private meeting and a delegation level meeting. Sheikh Hasina will address major business meetings like the Indian Chamber of Commerce the next day i.e. September 7. She will present the picture of how both parties can benefit if Indian investors invest in Bangladesh. The next day she will return to Dhaka via Ajmer Sharif.

Why is this visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina so important? The temporary power shortage in Bangladesh is going to end as Bangladesh’s largest thermal power project ‘Maitri’ is going to be inaugurated during her visit to India. Despite considerable ‘pressure’ from the Bangladesh government, the Teesta water distribution agreement could not be implemented mainly due to the objection of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. This time there will be significant progress if not all of it. The demand for wheat in Bangladesh is increasing. In this situation, the Modi government has given permission to export wheat through the Hili border in Dinajpur. It should be remembered that this will be her last visit to India before the upcoming elections in Bangladesh. As a result, India will not return Sheikh Hasina empty-handed. During Sheikh Hasina’s visit this time, there is a bright possibility of finalizing the trade agreement called ‘CEPA’ (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) between the two countries. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently approved the draft of this agreement in the cabinet meeting. Now just waiting for India to agree on this. It is being touted as a ‘landmark’ or landmark agreement for free and duty-free trade in hundreds of goods between India and Bangladesh. If this is the joint testing service, one stop service will be launched. It will increase investment. As a result, exports will increase by 3-5 billion dollars beyond the current (about 1.28 billion dollars) export earnings. After the signing of the CEPA agreement, if the trade barriers are removed, the import picture of Bangladesh will also change. As most of India’s products and services are compatible with Bangladesh’s economy and culture, and due to low transportation costs and time savings, Bangladeshi importers will turn to India instead of Far Eastern countries for the same products. Then the amount of import from India will increase. In that case, the current import of 7 billion dollars will increase by 4-7 billion US dollars.

Before Sheikh Hasina’s visit, a ministerial meeting of the Joint River Commission (JRC) was held in Delhi on August 25. On August 23, JRC secretary level meeting was held. It discussed the water sharing agreement of Manu, Dharla, Khoai, Muhuri, Gomti and Dudhkumar rivers. In this, the issue of finalizing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the withdrawal of Kushiara river water becomes important. Bangladesh wants to use Kushiara water to facilitate the cultivation of 5 thousand acres of land in Sylhet. This would require India’s permission to withdraw water from the same river. Besides, the Ganga water sharing agreement will expire in 2026. There is supposed to be a joint survey for maximum utilization of this common river water. After more than a century, the meeting of the Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) of the two countries is sitting in Delhi. The matters agreed by the JRC in terms of water sharing or water management of several important common rivers of the two countries will be fulfilled in the meeting of the two Prime Ministers. This time, the question is – Will the Chief Minister of West Bengal, who has held back the Tista Agreement, come and meet Sheikh Hasina in the capital during her visit to Delhi? The central government of India has invited as per rules. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave a message to the country’s Hindu community on Janmashtami before her visit to India. She said, ‘Don’t think of yourself as a minority. All people have equal rights in Bangladesh regardless of caste and religion.

The Bangladesh government has requested $4.5 billion in assistance from the International Monetary Fund or IMF. Economists say that the increase in the price of oil and gas, machinery and raw materials in the international market has created a huge pressure on the country’s reserves. Bangladesh approached the IMF donors to handle that pressure. Last year, Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves were 45.5 billion, but by July 20, it had dropped to 37.67 billion dollars. In addition to the increase in the prices of fuel oil, gas, food products in the international market, imports have increased a lot. Bangladesh has not faced such economic problems with foreign exchange for the last decade. Because both remittances and exports have done more or less well during this period. But now due to the situation that has developed in the world, there is a negative impact on remittances. Exports are good, but the rate at which imports have increased has created pressure on the balance of payments. Bangladesh’s infrastructure is improving rapidly. Now it’s time to set up various industries. In that case, in order to get raw materials and technical assistance quickly and cheaply, India will have to enter into some kind of financial agreement, which is not dependent on dollars in the parlance of economics. Bangladesh and India are gradually moving in that direction, only at this moment the leaders and ministers of the two countries need helpful to each other in tackling the crisis.