Author: TELO Admin

Sri Lanka’s Debt Deal: OCC Urges Swift Private Creditor Agreement

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The Official Creditor Committe (OCC) for Sri Lanka has announced that it expects Sri Lankan authorities will continue to engage with their private creditors to find as soon as possible an agreement on terms at least as favourable as the terms offered by the OCC.

These engagements will ensure that the overall debt treatment granted to Sri Lanka is consistent with the IMF program parameters, it added in a statement.

The OCC statement was issued late on Wednesday (26), following the Sri Lankan government’s announcement that a Memorandum Of Understanding was inked in Paris, France between Sri Lankan authorities, and the OCC, co-chaired by France, Japan and India.

“Since the Official Creditor Committee (OCC) and Sri Lanka agreed on the main parameters of a debt treatment consistent with those of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement between Sri Lanka and the IMF on November 23, 2023, the OCC and Sri Lanka furthered discussions in order to finalize the agreement in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The OCC also continued to engage extensively with the Sri Lankan authorities, the IMF and the World Bank, as well as China and Sri Lanka’s private creditors in order to ensure comparability of treatment,” it added in a statement.

On June 26, 2024, the OCC and Sri Lanka finalized the MoU, based on the main parameters of the debt treatment agreed in November 2023. The progress on the MoU had enabled the IMF staff to present to the IMF Executive Board the second review of Sri Lanka’s EFF arrangement and thus open the way for approval of the third disbursement under the arrangement.

The OCC commends the Sri Lankan authorities for their continuous efforts in implementing the reforms necessary for their country’s return to a sustainable path.

The OCC now looks forward to receiving from Sri Lanka all information necessary for the OCC to ensure comparability of treatment. The OCC also expects that the Sri Lankan authorities will continue to engage with their private creditors to find as soon as possible an agreement on terms at least as favourable as the terms offered by the OCC.

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US urges Sri Lanka to continue fiscal reforms with transparent and sustainable changes

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US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung says the United States welcomes the news of a final agreement on debt restructuring between Sri Lanka and creditor nations, which was reached today on the sidelines of the Paris Forum 2024.

“This is a positive step forward in Sri Lanka’s economic recovery and resilience, helping build more confidence in Sri Lanka’s fiscal environment”, the US envoy said in a post on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter).

Meanwhile, she added that the US encourages Sri Lanka to continue the reform process, adopting transparent and sustainable changes that foster long-term prosperity and growth.

Sri Lanka reaches deal on debt treatment with China’s Exim Bank

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State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe says that he met the Chinese Vice Minister of Finance, Liao Min in Paris and the final agreement has been reached on debt treatment between Sri Lanka and Export Import Bank of China.

Posting on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), Semasinghe stated that the formalities for signing of the implementing agreements are under way.

Meanwhile, earlier today, Sri Lanka had also reached a final restructuring agreement for USD 5.8 billion of debt with its bilateral lenders’ Official Creditor Committee in Paris, France.

This agreement grants significant debt relief, allowing Sri Lanka to allocate funds to essential public services and secure concessional financing for its development needs, according to the President’s Media Division (PMD).

Sri Lanka’s finance ministry said in November that the debt restructuring agreement in principle covered approximately $5.9 billion of outstanding public debt and involved a mix of extending the maturity of long-term borrowings and reducing interest rates on the credit.

The majority of the debt is owed to Japan and India, which chair the OCC along with France. A provisional agreement with the OCC was reached in November.

The Official Creditor Committee (OCC), led by Japan, France and India, covers about $5.9 billion of Sri Lanka’s outstanding external debt of $37 billion, according to the country’s finance ministry. The Export-Import Bank of China (EXIM) covers about $4 billion of outstanding debt, latest government data showed.

Among bilateral creditors, Sri Lanka owed China $4.7 billion with debt to India standing at $1.74 billion. Japan, a part of the Paris Club group, was owed $2.68 billion. China, Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral lender, is not an official member of the OCC.

Meanwhile, the total value of debt restructuring agreements that Sri Lanka reached today with creditor nations, including Official Creditor Committee and with EXIM bank of China is USD 10 billion.

They will provide up to 92% relief on debt repayments during International Monetary Fund (IMF) Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program.

India eyeing cobalt in disputed waters with Sri Lanka – AsiaNews

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New Delhi has applied to explore a deposit near the Afanasy Nikitin seamount that might be within Sri Lanka’s jurisdiction. According to experts, India’s desire is first and foremost to discourage further Chinese presence in the region.

India is trying to secure exploration rights for a cobalt offshore deposit that could fall under Sri Lanka’s jurisdiction.

New Delhi is driven by competition with Beijing, but Colombo also wants to extract minerals that are crucial for modern technologies, including for the energy transition.

Cobalt is in fact used in batteries in laptops, smartphones, and electric vehicles, but also in jet engines and gas turbines.

Concerned about China’s presence in the region, India contacted the International Seabed Authority (ISA), which is based in Kingston, Jamaica, to seek approval for exploration in the cobalt-rich Afanasy Nikitin seamount, located in the central Indian Ocean, east of the Maldives, about 1,350 kilometres off the Indian coast. The ISA is an intergovernmental body established under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Usually, a country’s sovereignty extends up to 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) from its shoreline, an area that is called the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and that only that country can economically exploit, although ships from other countries can pass through it unimpeded.

In 2009, Sri Lanka sought to expand its control beyond 200 nautical miles by applying to the Commission on Continental Shelf Limits (CLCS), which has not yet responded to Sri Lanka’s request.

If accepted, the Afanasy Nikitin Seamount would fall within Sri Lanka’s nautical boundaries. The underwater structure consists of 150 blocks spread over 3,000 square kilometres.

In the past, the CLCS accepted several requests to expand the boundaries of the continental shelf, by countries such as Australia, Norway, and Pakistan, which have rights to maritime territories that stretch beyond 200 nautical miles from the shoreline.

“India’s move is not aimed at exploration immediately; instead, it is a desire to establish a foothold in the region to deter any Chinese presence,” said senior maritime law experts Navin Seneviratne and Mahesh Algama, speaking to AsiaNews.

“At present, China, Germany, and South Korea have contracts for deep-sea exploration in different parts of the Indian Ocean.” By contrast, “India’s deep-sea mining initiatives are at a nascent stage, although, in recent years, the country has demonstrated its ambition in this endeavor.”

The two experts explain that “In 2021, India launched a deep ocean mission with an allocation of 0 million for a five-year period to explore deep sea resources. In the application, India expressed its intention to carry out detailed studies on geophysics, geology, oceanography, biology, and environment of the proposed area over the next 15 years.”

To this end, “In 2023, the Indian government under the same initiative began to develop a crewed deep sea mining submersible.” The latter would “be used to explore and collect polymetallic nodules (pictured), known as manganese nodules, which are rock formations containing important minerals, such as cobalt”.

According to data by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), China currently controls 70 per cent of the world’s cobalt and 60 percent of its lithium and manganese, as well as other critical minerals.

India has set 2070 as the deadline to reach net zero emissions. Such minerals would be used primarily in the clean energy industry.

Sri Lanka Mannar 50MW wind plant lowest bid 4.88 US cents

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Sri Lanka’s state-run Ceylon Electricity Board has received a bid for 4.88 cents a kilowatt hour for a 50 MegaWatt wind power plant in Mannar from Windforce Plc, industry sources said.

Vidullanka, Universal Energy and Square Mech, has made a bid for 4.98 US cents a unit.

Lakdhanavi Limited had made a b id for 5.90 cents.

The 4.88 cents works out to around 14.80 rupees a unit at 305 rupees a US dollar.

Mannar has high winds giving high plant factor in excess 40 percent, based on the performance of CEB’s existing plant.

The bids were opened on June 26, in the presence of representatives of power companies.

The opening of the bids was originally scheduled for May.

However, the opening of the bids was delayed amid objections from the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority, opposition legislator Kabir Hashim said in parliament.

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SLPP approves executive committee decisions

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The presidential candidate either to be named or supported by the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) should definitely work on the lines of ‘Mahinda Chinthana’ policies, decided its Samastha Lanka Karaka Sabha at a meeting yesterday (24).

Also, that candidate should not be one who endorses a division of the country.

SLPP general secretary Sagara Kariyawasam has told lankadeepa.lk that the decisions taken at the executive committee were approved on the occasion.

No conclusion was made on the matter of a presidential candidate, he said.

Many party politicians attended the meeting at leader Mahinda Rajapaksa’s official residence at Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo.

Meanwhile, Rajapaksa told journalists after a meeting at the party headquarters that whether they should support incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe or not will be decided in due course.

The SLPP has more than enough of candidates to field if necessary, he added.

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US Report Highlights Gains and Gaps in Sri Lanka’s Anti-Trafficking Efforts

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The 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report by the US State Department revealed that the Sri Lanka does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so.

It added that the government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period; therefore Sri Lanka remained on Tier 2.

These efforts included increasing convictions of labor traffickers and identifying and providing services to more trafficking victims.

It noted that the government canceled licenses and blacklisted more recruitment agencies allegedly responsible for facilitating trafficking; officials also reported providing assistance to a greater number of migrant workers at Sri Lankan diplomatic missions abroad.

However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas.

The government investigated and prosecuted fewer trafficking cases, and sentences for convicted traffickers remained lenient, which undercut efforts to hold traffickers accountable, weakened deterrence, created potential security and safety concerns for victims, and was not equal to the seriousness of the crime.

The US State Department report noted that the government appeared unwilling or unable to hold allegedly complicit officials accountable for trafficking, even suspected cases of child sex trafficking.

The government did not cooperate with foreign law enforcement on trafficking cases despite many such cases involving migrant workers abroad.

The government also referred fewer trafficking victims to services, and officials did not report ordering restitution for or providing compensation to trafficking victims.

It added that the government did not eliminate all recruitment fees charged by labor recruiters to workers nor increase monitoring of licensed recruitment agencies and subagents, and the government maintained gender-based labor migration policies that pushed Sri Lankan women to travel via unlicensed agents, which increased their vulnerability to trafficking.

It went on to noted that although government agencies such as the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) and Department of Immigration Emigration (DIE) had anti-trafficking units, and several agencies had anti-trafficking focal points, resource constraints continued to hinder investigations and anti-trafficking efforts.

Sri Lanka to call bids for new O&M contractor for Mannar wind farm

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Sri Lanka will call call competitive bids to select a new operation and maintenance contractor for Ceylon Electricity Board’s ‘Thambapavahini’ wind farm, cabinet spokesman minister Bandula Gunawardena said.

The existing O&M contract with Vestas Wind Lanka (Pvt) Limited for three years had ended in May this year.

“Therefore, a new service provider should be selected for those functions,” Minister Gunawardana said.

“Accordingly, the Cabinet approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Power and Energy to select a suitable service provider following a competitive procurement process.”

Situated on Mannar Island in Sri Lanka’s north west coast, Thambapavani is the country’s largest wind farm.

Tamil Nadu CM urges Jaishankar to address fishermen issue with Sri Lanka

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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin has urged the Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to secure the immediate release of all the fishermen and their fishing boats apprehended by Sri Lanka.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has requested Minister Jaishankar in writing to prevail upon the Sri Lankan Government for securing the release of 37 arrested fishermen of Tamil Nadu and to secure expeditious release of the seized boats.

“As I had pointed out in my previous letter, the incidents of arrests and intimidation have been continuing unabated resulting in loss of livelihoods,” he added in his letter, a copy of which was released to the media.

Despite this, yet again, on June 22, 22 fishermen from Rameswaram fishing harbour were apprehended along with their three mechanised fishing boats, Mr. Stalin said in his letter. “I request you to ensure the immediate release of the apprehended fishermen and their boats,” he added.

“I would also like to inform that permission is yet to be granted for the salvage boats and crew for bringing back the released boats from Sri Lanka,” Mr Stalin pointed out. Similarly, the requests of various fishermen associations in Tamil Nadu to visit the fishermen jailed in Sri Lanka, to provide them with some consolation and certain basic needs, may be proactively considered, he added.

“It is imperative that urgent diplomatic initiatives are taken to resolve this festering issue. I have been reiterating the need to revitalise the Joint Working Group that was set up to address this. I therefore request you to take this up with the Sri Lankan authorities and also to work towards a lasting solution to this issue,” Stalin said.

Separately, BJP Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai also wrote to Minister Jaishankar requesting his intervention in ensuring the early release of the 22 Tamil fishermen detained by the Sri Lankan Navy and the boats belonging to them, Indian media reported.

The Sri Lanka Navy on Sunday (23) apprehended 03 Indian fishing trawlers along with 22 Indian fishermen poaching in Sri Lankan waters off the Delft Island, Jaffna. Additionally, the navy has taken into custody 10 Indian fishermen in a trawler while poaching in seas off Delft Island last night (24), whereas a navy officer who was injured during the incident has succumbed to his injuries after admission to hospital.

Sri Lanka Navy has arrested over 200 Indian fishermen and seized more than 27 Indian poaching trawlers in Sri Lankan waters so far in 2024, and subsequently handed them over to authorities for legal proceedings.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin has urged both indian External Affairs Minister and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on several occasions to address this issue to seek a diplomatic resolution to ensure the safety and well-being of Tamil fishermen mentioning that the ‘nationalisation’ of the apprehended boats without proper compensation or alternative arrangements pushes the fishermen and their families into financial distress.

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Five-member judge bench appointed to hear ex-Navy chief’s writ

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The Court of Appeal has decided for the writ petition filed by former Sri Lanka Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda over the alleged abduction of 11 Tamil youths in 2008 and 2009, to be taken up for hearing before a five-member judge bench.

The former Navy Chief has filed the relevant petition seeking an order preventing the hearing of a case filed before the Colombo High Court against him and several others, related to the alleged abduction of 11 Tamil youths in Colombo and its suburbs in the 2008 and 2009.

Accordingly, the petition will be taken up for hearing before a five-member judge bench comprising Justices Menaka Wijesundera, Sampath B. Abeykoon, Mayadunne Corea and Chamath Morais on September 25, 2024.

The petitioner’s attorney has alleged through this petition that despite the investigations into the case stretching out for 10 years and statements being recorded from over 150 persons, the police had failed to uncover evidence to prove his client guilty of abducting and killing the said 11 youths.