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Thursday December 7th, 2023

Sri Lanka opposition MP endorses president’s views on reform, calls for consensus

MP Harsha de Silva (l) with President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the tea party hosted in parliament after the president’s throne speech in 2022. Image credit: President’s Media

ECONOMYNEXT – Endorsing a view expressed by President Ranil Wickremesinghe that Sri Lanka must be developed into a hub of the Indo-Pacific region, main opposition Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) MP Dr Harsha de Silva called for a united, multi-party government to “work towards creating this new Sri Lanka.”

“[President Wickremesinghe] in inaugural address says [Sri Lanka] must be developed in to a modern export oriented competitive social market economy as a hub of the emerging Indo-Pacific economic domain. I agree  [100 percent],” de Silva tweeted on Wednesday August 03.

“We must come together; specifically an all or multi party government for a limited period of time to work towards creating this new [Sri Lanka] on a common minimum program. If so future generations would vindicate us,” he added.

Political analysts say the SJB’s response to President Wickremesinghe’s open invitation for an all-party government has been less than warm.

On Tuesday, SJB parliamentarian S M Marikkar said that the party will support an economic recovery programme that will see Sri Lanka put on the right path, but it has no desire to take up positions in the cabinet. The party does not wish to burden the public with a 40-minister strong cabinet, he claimed.

Related:

Sri Lanka ruling party calls for all-party govt; main opposition sceptical

SJB and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa writing to the President on Tuesday said the party accepts his invitation to discuss the proposed restoration of the 19th amendment to the constitution and parliamentary oversight committees.

President Wickremesinghe has written to all members of parliament, inviting them to join an all-party government to see Sri Lanka through what has become its worst economic crisis since Independence.

In his parliamentary speech on Wednesday, he expressed his belief that, before the end of the 21st century, the Indo Pacific region will be the most powerful economic domain in the world.

“In this context, the strategic geographical location of our country is extremely important. We should make best use of this favourable position. Bearing this in mind, our future corporate laws and policies should be formulated. A country cannot be sustained by taking loans, and therefore should reduce the borrowings to the extent possible. Therefore, I am joining with you hounorable MPs in compiling rules and regulations and policies that will allow our country to get maximum benefit from the Indian Ocean centric new economic power,” he said.

Wickremesinghe urged all parties to get rid of traditional thinking in striving to build the Sri Lankan nation.

Related:

Sri Lanka president cautions against nurturing loss-making SOEs, calls for reform

(Colombo/Aug03/2022)

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COP28 sees new era for climate action with $57 bln pledge; Sri Lanka’s proposals need approval

ECONOMYNEXT – The 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) has witnessed governments, businesses, investors, and philanthropies announcing support of over $57 billion across the climate agenda in just the first four days of the global event with eight pledges and declarations receiving historic support.

After a historic deal to operationalize a fund for climate impact response on the first day, announcements have poured in across the entire climate agenda, including on finance, health, food, nature, and energy.

On climate finance, the COP28 host United Arab Emirates launched a $30 billion catalytic fund, ALTÉRRA, with an emphasis on unlocking private finance across the Global South.

The host nation also has announced $200 million for SDRs and $150 million for water scarcity.

The World Bank has announced an increase of $9 billion annually to finance climate-related projects, while the first two days of COP28 saw $725 million in pledges after a historic response to loss and damage was operationalized.

Eight new declarations have been announced which are expected to help transform every major system of the global economy.

These include the first ever declarations on food systems transformation and health, plus declarations on renewable energy and efficiency, as well as initiatives to decarbonize heavy emitting industries.

The eight declarations are:

  • The Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge has been endorsed by 119 countries.
  • The COP28 UAE Declaration on Agriculture, Food, & Climate has received endorsements from 137 countries.
  • The COP28 UAE Declaration on Climate and Health has been endorsed by 125 countries.
  • The COP28 UAE Declaration on Climate Relief, Recovery & Peace has been endorsed by 74 countries and 40 organizations.
  • The COP28 UAE Declaration on Climate Finance has been endorsed by 12 countries.
  • The Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (Champ) Pledge has been endorsed by 64 countries.
  • The Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter has been endorsed by 51 companies, representing 40 percent of global oil production.
  • The Industrial Transition Accelerator has been endorsed by 35 companies and six industry associations, including World Steel Association, International Aluminium Institute, Global Renewable Alliance, Global Cement and Concrete Association, Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, International Air Transport Association.

Three additional declarations will be announced in the coming days on hydrogen, cooling, and gender. The number of countries supporting these declarations and pledges is growing and demonstrates an unprecedented level of inclusivity at this COP.

Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe announced three new proposals: Climate Justice Forum (CJF), Tropical Belt Initiative (TBI), and International Climate Change University in Sri Lanka.

However, the proposals are yet to get approval from the general UN body though the island nation’s authorities expect wide support for the moves.

“What we have done is to talk to countries about the initiatives and launch them. Next step is for them to be formally recognized by the main body,” Ruwan Wijewardena, the Senior Advisor to President Wickremesinghe on Climate change, told Economy Next.

Breakdown of financial pledges and contributions so far:

  • Loss and Damage: $725 million
  • Green Climate Fund: $3.5 billion (increasing second replenishment to $12.8 billion)
  • Renewable Energy: $2.5 billion
  • Technology: $568 million
  • Methane: $1.2 billion
  • Climate Finance: Over $30 billion from UAE (plus $200 million in Special Drawing Rights and an increase of $9 billion annually from the World Bank)
  • Food: $2.6 Billion
  • Nature: $2.6 Billion
  • Health: $2.7 billion
  • Water: $150 million
  • Relief, Recovery and Peace: $1.2 billion
  • Local Climate Action: $467 million (Dubai/Dec 6/2023)
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Sri Lanka to start international tourism branding campaign

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka will soon start a tourism international marketing campaign under the theme ‘You will come back for more,” Tourism Minister Harin Fernando said.

“We have not had a branding campaign for 15 years,” Fernando told parliament. “A campaign has been developed by Ogilvy.

“It will help us reach the target of 2.3 million tourists next year.”

This year Sri Lanka is expecting a 1.5 million tourists with close to 1.3 million reached by November.

About 6,000 tourists are now coming each day, at the moment he said.

On December 10, three cruise ships are due. (Colombo/Nov06/2023)

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Sri Lanka 3-month Treasuries yields fall

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Treasury bill yields eased across maturities with the tree month yield falling 19 basis points to 14.67 percent, data from the state debt office showed.

A total of 185 billion rupees in bills were sold, with sharply lower than offered volumes in 12-months sold.

The debt office offered 55 billion rupees of 3 -month bills and sold 87 billion.

92 billion rupees of 6-month bills were sold after offering 60 billion at 14.38 percent down 14 basis points.

Only 5.2 billion rupees of 12-month bills were sold after offering 70 billion rupees, at 12.88 percent, down 01 basis point. (Colombo/Dec06/2023)

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