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Thursday September 21st, 2023

X-Press Pearl chemicals likely to get diluted off Sri Lanka seas: official

ECONOMYNEXT – Chemicals remaining on board X-Press Pearl to get diluted in the Indian Ocean an official said, as the vessel which carried over 800 tonnes of sodium hydroxide continued to emit a grey sheen while settling to the bottom off Colombo Port.

“According to what chemical scientists say the disclosed chemical compounds disclosed here will get diluted (in sea water) and there will be no long term impact,” Secretary of Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Environment Anil Jasinghe said.

“It is plastic nurdles that is the biggest problem. To reduce the damage we have to collect as much as possible.”

The sunken vessel has been emitting a grayish material and water remains discoloured around the vessel, the owners have said.

X-Press Pearl was carrying over 800 tonnes of sodium hydroxide when it caught fire. It is not clear how much of it remains on board.

“A grey sheen continues to be observed emanating from the vessel, and discolouration of the sea in and around the wreck remains,” owners X-Press Pearl said.

“This has been apparent since the vessel’s stern became submerged, and the remnants of the cargo in the 1486 containers that were onboard were exposed to seawater.”

There had been peculation that a lighter coloured tongue of water leading away from the vessel could be an oil spill.

Questioned about the grey sheen, and whether it could be due to hydroxide precipitation officials said some people had suggested that algae could be growing.

Officials said they had no knowledge to answer queries on whether there were any loading conflict in the stowage of dangerous goods, and whether IMDG guidelines had been complied with.

Minister of Coast Conservation Nalaka Godahewa said though claims had been made that an oil spill was there based on satellite images, no slick was visible at close quarters.

Chairperson of Sri Lanka’s Marine Environmental Protection Authority said there was no heavy bunker oil leaking but some patches of a lighter material such as diesel could be seen around the ship.

She said most experts believed that bunker oil had been burnt off.

Sri Lanka has sought 40 million dollars in interim damages and was calculating losses to the fishing community, tourism and environment. Three experts from a UN agency were due to arrive in Sri Lanka this week to help.

A committee will take claims from anyone who is not covered in the identified sectors who has suffered a loss, Minister Godahewa said.

Minister Godahewa said carcases of dead turtles that were turning up was being examined. One view was that they were linked to the X-Press Pearl disaster and another was that turtles did turn up during bad weather in the ‘warakan’ or South West monsoon season, he said. (Colombo/June15/2021)

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Sri Lanka gets 19.23 mn US dollar grant from USA

ECONOMYNEXT – The United States yesterday (20) announced the commitment of more than 19 million US dollars in additional funds to further the development of Sri Lanka.

The 19.23 million US dollar (6.2 billion rupees) is obligated through the Development Objective Grant Agreement between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Sri Lanka government.

“This development assistance will support economic growth and democratic governance activities and demonstrates the ongoing US commitment to its partnership with Sri Lanka and in building lasting people-to-people ties,” a statement by the Embassy of the United States of America read.

“This investment demonstrates the United States’ ongoing commitment to our partnership with Sri Lanka and our steadfast support to the people of this stunning, opportunity-filled country, as USAID Administrator Samantha Power and President Wickremesinghe discussed in New York,” said Gabriel Grau, USAID Sri Lanka and Maldives Mission Director.

“With these funds we’ll continue to work with the government of Sri Lanka to improve economic growth and democratic governance and advocate for vulnerable populations.”

USAID is an independent agency of the United States government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance.

The United States has provided more than 2 billion US dollars (nearly 720 billion rupees) in assistance to Sri Lanka since 1956. (Colombo/Sep21/2023)

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Sri Lanka’s 2022 EPF returns falls to lowest, single digit in near two decades – CB data

ECONOMYNEXT – The 2022 annual average return on Sri Lanka’s largest contributory pension scheme, the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), has fallen to its lowest in nearly two decades, Central Bank data showed.

The annual average return in the last year fell to 9.52 percent from the previous year’s 11.40 percent, a central bank response to a Right to Information (RTI) request showed.

Returns on EPF has raised concerns among contributors after the government decided to include EPF investments in the government treasury bonds under the domestic debt optimization (DDO) process.

Last year’s lower return has been recorded despite market interest rates being more than 30 percent towards the end of the year. In contrast, the fund has given a double digit return in 2020 when the market interest rates hovered in single digits.

Analysts have predicted the returns to be further low with the central bank opting for the government’s DDO option.

A central bank analysis on DDO showed the return on EPF could fall to as low as 6.79 percent if the DDO option was not chosen within the next 12 years as against 8.02 percent if opted for DDO.

Trade unions and some politically motivated fractions opposed the government move to include the EPF investments under the DDO. However, parliament approved the move early this month.

According to the data made available from 2005, the central bank, which is the custodian of the EPF, has given the highest return of 16.03 percent in 2009.

The island nation’s largest pension fund has almost 21-million member accounts including 18.3 million non-contributing accounts due to some members having multiple number of accounts.

The 3.38 trillion-rupee ($10.6 billion) worth fund as of end 2022 is managed by the central bank, including its investment decisions.

As of end 2022, the central bank has invested 3.23 trillion rupees or 95.7 percent of the total EPF in government securities, while 84.1 billion rupees has been invested in listed companies in the Colombo Stock Exchange, the central bank said quoting the EPF audited financial statement. (Colombo/September 21/2023)

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Malaysia to support Sri Lanka’s bid to join RCEP

ECONOMYNEXT – Malaysia has agreed to support Sri Lanka’s application to become a member of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a major regional trade agreement.

The RCEP is a free trade agreement among the Asia-Pacific nations of Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe met the Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during bilateral discussions on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York yesterday (20).

During the meeting, the Malaysian Prime Minister expressed a strong desire to bolster economic ties between the two nations, according to a president’s media division statement.

He emphasized Malaysia’s eagerness to facilitate increased investments from Malaysian companies in Sri Lanka.

Ibrahim also expressed positivity towards Sri Lanka’s request to commence negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries, which could potentially open up new avenues for trade and economic cooperation.

Wickremesinghe is in a drive to bolster international ties and integrate the country with the global economy.

So far this week he met with the leaders of Bangladesh, Nepal, Malaysia, Iran, South Korea, as well as representatives from global bodies such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, USAID, Meta, the Commonwealth, and attended other forums.

Sri Lanka aims to expand its economic reach first within South Asia and then extend further.
Data shows that Sri Lanka has been able to boost exports with FTAs.

Over the past two decades Sri Lanka’s exports have not grown as much as competitors.

Economists involved in trade have pointed out that Sri Lanka should make joining the RCEP a priority instead of trying to negotiate multiple smaller deals for which it does not have the bandwidth in government, or the technical resources to do multiple trade agreements. (Colombo/Sep21/2023)

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