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Sunday October 1st, 2023

Sri Lanka needs more revenues, debt restructuring by Sept: IMF mission

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka needs more revenues and restructuring debt by September was essential for debt to be made sustainable an International Monetary Fund mission said after a visit to the island.

“The mission discussed additional fiscal efforts that will be critical to ensure successful revenue mobilization,” Senior Mission Chief Peter Breuer and Mission Chief Masahiro Nozaki said in a statement.

“We also discussed progress on debt restructuring, noting the ongoing discussions with both foreign and domestic creditors.

“Achieving timely restructuring agreements with creditors in line with the program targets by the time of the first review is essential to restoring debt sustainability.”

The first review, based on June data is due in September.

The macroeconomic situation in Sri Lanka is showing tentative signs of improvement, with inflation moderating, the exchange rate stabilizing, and the Central Bank rebuilding reserves, the mission said.

“However, the overall macroeconomic and policy environment remains challenging,” the statement said

“Keeping up the reform momentum and ensuring timely implementation of program commitments, including to ensure central bank independence, improve governance, and protect the vulnerable, are key for Sri Lanka to emerge from the economic crisis.”

Sri Lanka is in the worst currency crisis in the history of the island’s soft-pegged central bank which ended in sovereign default in 2022.

The full statement is reproduced below:

IMF Staff Concludes Visit to Sri Lanka

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Messrs. Peter Breuer and Masahiro Nozaki conducted a staff visit to Colombo from May 11 to 23, 2023 to discuss recent economic developments and implementation of the Fund-supported program .
At the conclusion of the visit, Messrs. Breuer and Nozaki issued the following statement:

“During the visit, we discussed recent macroeconomic and financial sector developments.

Following strong policy efforts, the macroeconomic situation in Sri Lanka is showing tentative signs of improvement, with inflation moderating, the exchange rate stabilizing, and the Central Bank rebuilding reserves buffers. However, the overall macroeconomic and policy environment remains challenging.

“We welcome the authorities’ ongoing efforts in meeting key commitments under the Fund-supported program. Performance under the program will be formally assessed in the context of the first review of the Extended Fund Facility arrangement, which is expected to be undertaken in September 2023.

The mission discussed additional fiscal efforts that will be critical to ensure successful revenue mobilization. We also discussed progress on debt restructuring, noting the ongoing discussions with both foreign and domestic creditors.

Achieving timely restructuring agreements with creditors in line with the program targets by the time of the first review is essential to restoring debt sustainability.

Keeping up the reform momentum and ensuring timely implementation of program commitments, including to ensure central bank independence, improve governance, and protect the vulnerable, are key for Sri Lanka to emerge from the economic crisis.

“The team met with President and Minister of Finance Wickremesinghe, Governor Weerasinghe, Secretary to the Treasury Siriwardana, senior government officials, members of the opposition parties, CSOs, think tanks, trade unions, the private sector, and development partners. We would like to thank the authorities for the open and collaborative discussions and look forward to our continued close engagement.”

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  1. sacre blieu says:

    The steep and organised devaluation of the Rupee favoured only a few chosen ones. Fortune favors a few. “The Honda Sallie Carayas” . So, status at any price, and profit in any which way they can.

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  1. sacre blieu says:

    The steep and organised devaluation of the Rupee favoured only a few chosen ones. Fortune favors a few. “The Honda Sallie Carayas” . So, status at any price, and profit in any which way they can.

Sri Lanka National Christian Council opposes Online Safety Bill

ECONOMYNEXT – The National Christian Council of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) in a statement on the Online Safety Bill, said that the existing legal regime is adequate to deal with instances of harmful speech, making it unjustifiable to enact such “stringent laws”.

The Council called upon the government to withdraw the bill immediately.

The body expressed “deep concern” over the proposed bill, detailing its potential to curtail freedom of speech and how, according to the Council, the piece of legislature is inconsistent with the principles of democracy.

“The bill proposes the establishment of an entity named the Online Safety Commission without provisions to guarantee its independence and impartiality,” the statement said.

Chapter 3 imposes restrictions on online communication of certain statements, many of which are vague and overbroad, leaving room for executive control and the curtailing of legitimate criticism and dissent that are basic features of democracy, the statement said.

“The laws granting wide discretion to the executive and its investigative agencies with expansive reach have been misused in the past.”

The Council said that the bill was not drafted with the process of public consultation and discussion, which might have ensured the bill would be less draconian in nature.

“The National Christian Council of Sri Lanka calls upon the government to withdraw this anti-human rights and anti-democratic bill immediately.” (Colombo/Sep30/2023)

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Sri Lanka to implement new vehicle revenue licence issuing system

ECONOMYNEXT – A new system of issuing vehicle licences called eRL 2.0 is to be implemented in 5 provinces, excluding the Western Province, from 3 October onwards.

The new system is to be implemented beginning in the North West, South, North Central, Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces, respectively. The existing vehicle licence issuing system eRL 1.0 will continue to be used in the Western Province.

The issuing of revenue licences islandwide at Department of Motor Traffic head offices and regional branches will be temporarily halted on October 2.

The facility of obtaining vehicle permits online will also be temporarily halted on 6 October till midnight.

The Sri Lanka Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) and the Provincial Motor Traffic Departments are working to modernize the current vehicle revenue license issuance system.

The implementation of the new eRL 2.0 system is expected to be an important step in the digitalisation of Sri Lanka. (Colombo/Sep30/2023)

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Sri Lankan Airlines flights cancelled as aircraft grounded

ECONOMYNEXT – State-run SriLankan Airlines has apologized to passengers who were stranded as multiple aircraft were grounded at the same time.

The airline said it has strict procedures which requires aircraft to be grounded when technical issues are discovered.

“Unfortunately, in this case we suffered a number of groundings at the same time,” the airline said.

“We apologize for the disruption and inconvenience caused and assure all our loyal customers that we are working diligently to minimize such occurrences moving forward.”

The airline said it was booking passengers on other airlines while some have been accommodated at hotels. (Colombo/Sept30/2023)

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