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Thursday December 7th, 2023

Sri Lanka schedules power cuts up to 12 hours for April 01

ECONOMYNEXT – Power cuts of up to 12 hours in some areas in Sri Lanka have been approved for Friday (01), Public Utilities Commission Chairman Janaka Ratnayake said as a flexible exchange regime created severe foreign exchange shortages and power deficits in the dry season.

Areas A, B, C, D, E, F, P, Q, R, and S will see two hours of power outages from 4am to 6am, four hours from 8am to 12pm and six hours from 4pm to 10pm.

Areas G, H, I, J, K, L, T, U, V, and W will experience two-hour power cuts from 6am to 8am, four hours from 12pm to 4pm and six hours from 6 pm to 12am.

Areas M, N, O, X, Y, and Z, however, will lose power only for 5.5 hours, with a 3.5-hour interruption from 5.30am to 9am and a two-hour cut from 4pm to 6pm.

Areas in the CC group will have a 3.5-hour power cut from 6am to 9am.

Download the power cut schedule for April 01.

Though the government has said the duration of the power cuts will be reduced gradually, it has been extended mainly due to lack of fuel amid severe shortage of US dollars for imports.

The lack of fuel has also resulted in long queues for diesel and petrol despite record price hikes. (Colombo/Mar31/2022)

Comments (4)

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  1. M. Welgolle says:

    To anyone who depends on these schedules:
    Please DO NOT depend on these schedules as they are extremely unreliable and inaccurate. Power cuts and restorations are never at the given times.
    To the authorities:
    Please DO NOT make schedules like these if you are unable to respect them an adhere to them. What you’re doing is MISLEADING the public. I’m sorry to say this, but it is the stark reality and the truth.

  2. Nihal Jayawardena says:

    Please give us power night two hours not 6 pm to 12pm because our children’s are studying for exams.

  3. KS Charles says:

    There are areas mentioned, by alphabetical order, do your office believe that can identify the areas, by the peoples .
    I hope even your office can’t.
    kindly publish areas by name.

  4. samantha frnando says:

    power cut sedul

View all comments (4)

Comments (4)

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. M. Welgolle says:

    To anyone who depends on these schedules:
    Please DO NOT depend on these schedules as they are extremely unreliable and inaccurate. Power cuts and restorations are never at the given times.
    To the authorities:
    Please DO NOT make schedules like these if you are unable to respect them an adhere to them. What you’re doing is MISLEADING the public. I’m sorry to say this, but it is the stark reality and the truth.

  2. Nihal Jayawardena says:

    Please give us power night two hours not 6 pm to 12pm because our children’s are studying for exams.

  3. KS Charles says:

    There are areas mentioned, by alphabetical order, do your office believe that can identify the areas, by the peoples .
    I hope even your office can’t.
    kindly publish areas by name.

  4. samantha frnando says:

    power cut sedul

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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