Employment

Crisis-hit Sri Lanka sees record labour migration as rupee collapse, high inflation weigh

Migrant workers in Kuwait, April 2020

Monday January 2, 2023 7:52 pm

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka saw a record high labour migration in 2022 as tens of thousands of people moved to other countries in search of jobs in foreign currency after the island nation’s currency collapsed and inflation soared to an all-time high, the government data showed.

The island nation’s rupee fell over 60 percent in 2022 – from 200 rupees to 360 rupees – after the central bank printed billions of rupees to finance the government spending in the face of higher state expenditure and lower government revenue.

The money printing also resulted in the inflation rising to record 73 percent in September – forcing millions of people to cut three meals a day to meet their ends.

Sri Lanka saw 311,269 people leaving the country in 2022, the highest in history. Previously, the country’s annual peak was 300,413 in 2014.

It was more than double of the migrated population of 121,795 in the previous year, the central bank data showed.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government has been encouraging people to leave the shores and to earn in dollars to help the country to move out of the unprecedented economic crisis.

The South Indian island nation saw a steep fall in its foreign currency reserves, shortage of dollars, and failure to import essentials, leaving tens of thousands of people in queues for cooking gas, fuel, and medicines.

The shortages led the country to declare sovereign debt default on April 12 before people started street protests across the country which later ousted both former leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, ex-prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The government has announced a raft of incentives for those who send foreign currency remittances to the country.

But the country is yet to see a significant increase in foreign remittances in proportion to the increase in labour migration last year.

The worker remittances plummeted 36 percent to $3.3 billion in the first 11 months of the year compared to the previous year’s $5.2 billion, the central bank data showed. (Colombo/Jan02/2023)

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Agriculture

Sri Lanka to grow 40,000 acres of coconut in the North

Tuesday January 21, 2025 12:09 pm

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka expects to grow 40,000 acres of coconut in the North as part of efforts for long term expansion of the crop and also give free fertilizer to small holders Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure Samantha Viddyarathna said.

Sri Lanka’s coconut prices have soared amid import controls and a crop shortfall.

“We have taken steps to grow 40,000 acres of coconut in the Northern coconut triangle,” Minister Viddyarathna told parliament.

“We have asked 1,437 million rupees from the budget for that. This will have results in the long term.”

Some of Sri Lanka’s traditional coconut are located in areas which are fast developing and where the land has higher yielding uses.

Sri Lanka’s then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa banned fertilizer following advice from the Government Medical Officers Association which was followed by a massive currency crises after macro-economists printed money on top of tax cuts to boost growth.

Fertilizer prices soared in the crisis while supplies were also short.

Sri Lanka also 39,883 acres of coconut state plantations but they also have not got fertilizer for the past five years, Minister Viddyarathna said.

“Where there is no fertilizer the crops decline,” he said. “There were also weather impacts.”

Heavy rains tend to drench flowers and reduce pollination, according to some in the coconut sector.

Rains have continued this year.

Sri Lanka has obtained 55,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer from Russia of which 27,500 was reserved for coconut small holders.

“We have decided to give free fertilizer to coconut land owners with less than 5 acres.”

Sri Lanka has a number of export industries including powdered milk, shell charcoal and coir which are also facing higher costs and raw material difficulties due to crop shortfall and import restrictions on raw coconuts. (Colombo/Jan21.2025)

Employment

Sri Lanka to train female seafarers

The inaugural batch of female cadets with the Centrum Marine Consultancy team at the launch of the She Can Sail the Seas

Tuesday January 21, 2025 11:43 am

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka Centrum Marine Consultancy (Pvt) Ltd, a maritime human resources firm, said it had launched an initiative to sponsor and encourage females to become seafarers.

Under the ‘She Can Sail the Seas’ initiative, 15 female cadets are being trained at a cost of 110,000 US dollars.

“Our mission is to create a lasting impact, paving the way for future generations of female seafarers and demonstrating that the seas are open to all who dare to sail them,” Kalinga De Silva, Managing Director of Centrum Marine Consultancy, said.

These include seven deck cadets and eight engineering cadets.

Centrum Marine Consultancy says they hope to train 150 over the longer term.

She Can Sail the Seas’ initiative is co-sponsored by Peter Döhle Schiffahrts-KG, Hamburg, with CINEC Maritime Campus serving as the technical partner.

(L-R) German Ambassador Felix Neumann, Kalinga De Silva, High Commission of Australia Defense Advisor Colonel Amanda Jonston, US Embassy Naval Attaché Lieutenant Commander Jessica De Month, and CINEC Maritime Campus Vice President Capt Peshala Medagama.

It is supported by the German Embassy in Colombo, the High Commission of Australia, and the US Embassy in Colombo.

The program is also supported by the Ceylon Association of Shipping Agents, and WISTA Sri Lanka. (Colombo/Jan21/2025)

Energy

Sri Lanka to solve tax, water and land problems on China refinery

Tuesday January 21, 2025 9:40 am

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has agreed to resolve issues on water, land and tax on a planned 3.7 billion US dollar oil refinery by China’s Sinopec in Hambantota, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said.

The new administration discussed with China and agreed to fast track the refinery which has been in the works for several years, he said.

“We said we are ready,” Minister Herath said in a late night talk show on Sri Lanka’s Derana Television Monday.

“There is a water problem. There is a requirement for more land. There is a problem with tax.

“We said we will discuss these and we signed the agreement. Within a month both sides will discuss and give solutions to the three problems and take it forward. We fast-tracked it.”

China had originally put forward the idea for a refinery in 2004, he said.

The National People’s Power still had reservations about fuel distribution being given to foreign companies including Sinopec but there were legal agreements now in place which had to be respected, Minister Herath said. (Colombo/Jan21/2025)