Author: TELO Admin

The District Returning officers of respective districts have issued gazette notifications to hold the Local Government election on April 25, 2023 as per the Local Authorities Elections Ordinance, the Elections Commission announced today.

It said the Government Printer agreed to print and submit the postal ballot papers within five days and other ballot papers within 20 to 25 days.
The EC said in a statement that Senior DIG (Elections) has agreed to assign the required number of police personnel during the printing of ballot papers as requested by the Government Printer.

The officials of the Power and Energy Ministry and Ceylon Petroleum Cooperation (CPC) have agreed to provide the required fuel stocks as requested by the EC within the next few days.

The Commission said these agreements were reached during a meeting with relevant state institutions to remove the obstacles to holding the election as per the Supreme Court interim order.

The appreciation of the Sri Lankan rupee (LKR) that has taken place over the last few days is temporary, say local economists emphatically.

Speaking to The Daily Morning Business, former Central Bank Deputy Governor Dr. W.A. Wijewardena stated: “The factors that will contribute to a permanent stabilisation of the rupee-dollar rate aren’t present in the economy as yet. They consist of a surplus in the current account of the balance of payments,” adding that the reason behind the rupee depreciation is likely to be temporary despite the measures taken by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL).

Expressing the circumstances that have been created for the rupee’s appreciation against the dollar (USD), Dr. Wijewardena said that it is due to a “temporary” oversupply of the forex market of Sri Lanka which is thin as a result of the forex crisis.

He added: “The daily transactions are even less than $ 10 million. Hence, it cannot be used to gauge the development of the forex market.”

Therefore, he noted that the current appreciation is “not supported by existing macroeconomic developments”, while forecasting rupee appreciation will reverse within about a one-to-two-month period.

The Daily Morning Business also contacted University of Peradeniya Professor in Economics Prof. J.M. Ananda Jayawickrama in this regard who had a similar opinion on the rupee appreciation.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has given a green light on the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and created a market expectation of receiving dollars to the market.

Prof. Jayawickrema further said: “The increase of dollar supply/earning would increase at a similar or beyond the spending rate,” once people start spending dollars such as by travelling abroad.

The cause for the rupee appreciation is that there is a dollar (USD) inflow due to tourism picking up and dollars being brought to the forex market to be converted to rupees, expecting further devaluation of the USD while the Government of Sri Lanka is receiving millions of dollars in aid or assurances of such. Thus, due to the supply of dollars, the LKR has been subjected to an appreciation, Prof. Jayawickrama elaborated.

Further, he noted that the country has not been importing goods as in previous times such as vehicles and food items (apple, grapes), and as the price of imported commodities are higher, the demand has come down even though certain bans have been removed. He also highlighted that Sri Lankans have not been spending much dollars despite the improved forex inflows. Simultaneously, the CBSL announced that foreign exchange reserves had increased.

University of Peradeniya Professor in Economics Prof. W.L. Prasanna Perera commented: “In the exchange market, one cannot predict permanent changes as it is determined by market forces. This is temporary because we (Sri Lanka) are not currently serving foreign debt. We (GoSL) are restricting imports, but when it is gradually allowed, the demand for dollars will increase. That will result in the depreciation of the currency in the future. That is the theory.”

For the time being, supply has increased which has resulted in the appreciation of the rupee, Prof. Perera highlighted.

Meanwhile, a tweet on the verified account of Minister of Tourism and Lands Harin Fernando with the caption “LKR best-performing currency in the world!” was subjected to both criticism and applause from netizens. The tweet referenced a graph on YTD Best Spot Returns indicating the LKR topping the charts with a 13.45% improvement from among a few appreciated currencies in the world by Wednesday (8).

Sri Lanka’s Chief of National Intelligence, and accused war criminal, Ruwan Kulatunga, is to virtually attend the UN Human Rights Committee’s 6th periodic review, on behalf of the government despite concern over his human rights record.

Kulatunga served as Commander of the notorious Wanni Security Force Headquarters in Vavuniya, commonly referred to as the Joseph Camp, from 2016-2017. The camp has been marked by repeated accounts of torture and sexual violence throughout the armed conflict, with more recent accounts of torture dated as late as 2017.

In March 2017, the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) released a report documenting accounts of torture.

“Witnesses provided ITJP with searing testimony of torture in Joseph Camp that included rape with objects such as cricket wickets and glass bottles, as well as in two cases barbed wire inserted inside a pipe and then withdrawn to tear the flesh of the rectum. All of the women and 18 of the men described being raped and sexually violated”, the report reads.

Kulatunga played a vital role in Sri Lanka’s war efforts and served for over 25 years in the North and East. During this time the military faced severe criticism for its dire human rights record.

Responding to his presence, former BBC correspondent Frances Harrison noted that he should answer questions over the alleged human rights abuses that took place in the Joseph camp.

Tamil activists have echoed these urging for members of the committee to question Kulatunga’s record.

“The fact that Sri Lanka will be represented by a war criminal speaks to the lack of accountability on the island. Member states must question his conduct and shed light on these human rights abuses”.

Perhaps he could answer some questions about Joseph Camp / SFHQ-W which he ran 2016-17?

— Frances Harrison (@francesharris0n) March 8, 2023

In February, the finance ministers of G20 countries met to discuss the challenges facing the global economy. It was a missed opportunity to help Sri Lanka, a country on the front line of the debt crisis that has enveloped dozens of nations around the world in recent years.

It was disappointing that the final chair’s summary and outcome document only paid lip service to alleviating the challenges faced by people in Sri Lanka.

While it recognised the “urgency to address debt vulnerabilities” globally, and “look[ed] forward to a swift resolution to Sri Lanka’s debt situation”, no concrete commitments were made or actions taken.

The G20 countries include Sri Lanka’s main bilateral creditors including China, India, Japan and South Korea; as well as influential members of multilateral creditor organisations, including the United States and European nations. If this group collaborated effectively, it could make debt relief available to Sri Lanka, and strengthen the protections of people’s economic and social rights during a moment of crisis.

Because while the news cycle may have moved on, Sri Lanka’s economic crisis is still raging and having a devastating impact on people. High inflation and limited social protection, combined with difficulties accessing essentials like food and healthcare, are exacting a heavy toll on their lives and rights.

According to the World Food Programme, for example, one in three households was food insecure in December 2022. Prospects for 2023 are also not encouraging: a quarter of people are projected to remain in poverty, and according to the World Bank, a significant economic contraction is likely.

Sri Lanka’s debt burden affects the ability of the government to guarantee human rights. The public debt-to-GDP ratio increased from 93.6 percent at the end of 2019 to 114 percent at the end of 2021.

Even before the economic crisis made international headlines, Sri Lanka was a global outlier in the amount it spent to service its debt. In 2020, before the most recent crisis, an incredible 71.4 percent of government revenue was spent simply on paying interest versus a global average of 6 percent and a regional average of 21.1 percent.

Interest payments are the single largest category of government expenditure, and a lot of fresh government borrowing was used simply to pay the interest on Sri Lanka’s previous loans.

Servicing this debt has reduced the government’s ability to spend on sectors like health, education and social protection, which directly impact people’s welfare. A survey this month found that half of the families in Sri Lanka are forced to reduce the amount they feed their children.

It is essential to release Sri Lanka from this debt trap, to break a spiral that is eroding the human rights of too many of the island’s 22 million people.

Sri Lanka’s government is currently engaged in complex debt negotiations, which are vital to access financial support from the International Monetary Fund. The IMF concluded a staff-level agreement with the government last year, offering to lend about $2.9bn. However, the terms of the IMF agreement required sufficient assurances of debt restructuring and relief from Sri Lanka’s creditors before the loan was finalised and money disbursed.

While IMF financing may be the reason Sri Lanka’s debt is in the news today, creditors should focus on resolving debt so economic and social rights can be better guaranteed. Past IMF programmes have included conditions which had adverse human rights impacts, such as cuts in public spending and other austerity measures. Workers in Sri Lanka recently went on strike against measures the government implemented to purportedly secure IMF financing, such as increased taxes.

Sri Lanka’s debt negotiations are complicated for several reasons, including the range of parties involved. Almost half of Sri Lanka’s total external debt is in bonds on the open market and owned in part by private entities such as hedge funds. One of these private creditors has already sued the Sri Lankan government in an American court for debt repayment. Then there are bilateral creditors, and some debt is also held by multilateral institutions like the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank Group.

While there appears to have been some progress in these negotiations in recent weeks, no resolution appears in sight. A lack of transparency in how talks are being conducted means it is unclear what the blockages are and how long the process might take.

How these negotiations are conducted is important. The very fact that Sri Lanka’s existing debt repayments are so onerous raises questions about how such agreements were entered into in the first place. Transparency, participation and accountability are essential to ensure that the current crisis is not repeated.

Sri Lanka’s creditors cannot only be guided by their commercial or national interests. As an Amnesty International report on Sri Lanka’s economic crisis from October 2022 noted, international financial organisations, multilateral developmental banks and private corporations have obligations and responsibilities to respect international human rights.

As these negotiations progress, debt restructuring and relief should enable Sri Lanka to service its external debts without compromising its capacity to fulfil its human rights obligations, and guarantee people’s economic and social rights. All options for debt relief should be on the table, including debt cancellation if necessary.

Urgent, coordinated international action is key to ensuring that the Sri Lankan government can effectively tackle the crisis and protect people’s rights. It is almost a year since Sri Lanka first defaulted on its debt, and six months since the IMF staff-level agreement was concluded.

More G20 meetings are scheduled for this year, and they must prioritise debt relief for Sri Lanka in line with human rights standards. Postponing decisive action on Sri Lanka only delays recovery and adds to the human suffering people are experiencing in the country.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

The Buddha Sasana Task Force addressed a letter to President Ranil Wickremesinghe stressing on the need to hold the local government election without delay for national and diplomatic stability.

It calls to limit the number of ministers to 15, and remove State Ministers. It also calls to move the administration of all ministries under the relevant secretary, and suspend all state festivities.

In addition, the letter notes to suspend imports of luxury goods and suspend non-essential expenses of the ministries and provide the required funds for the Local Government Election.