Author: TELO Admin

The Cabinet of Ministers approved the further extension of orders issued under the Foreign Exchange Act to control foreign exchange remittances outside the country.

Previously, orders were issued under Section 22 of the Foreign Exchange Act No. 12 of 2017 to suspend external remittances related to certain transactions, taking into account the possible negative impact on the country’s foreign reserves and foreign exchange market due to the Covid 19 epidemic.

The orders expire on July 1, 2021, and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said the order should be further implemented to minimize potential risk in the foreign exchange market and maintain the stability of the financial system.

Accordingly, the Cabinet approved the proposal presented by Prime Minister in his capacity as the Minister of Finance to extend the orders issued under Section 22 of the Foreign Exchange Act No. 12 of 2017 imposing certain restrictions/prohibitions on foreign exchange remittances, for a period of further 06 months from 2nd July 2021.

India on Monday successfully carried out the test-firing of a new missile of the Agni series known as Agni-Prime at 10.55 am, off the coast of Odisha. It was test-fired successfully from launchpad No-4 of Chandipur.

The new nuclear-capable missile is fully made up of composite material and it was a textbook launch, government sources said.

Various telemetry and radar stations positioned along the eastern coast tracked and monitored the missile. It has followed textbook trajectory, meeting all mission objectives with a high level of accuracy, DRDO officials said.

Agni-Prime is a short-range ballistic missile. It is a new generation advanced variant of the Agni class of missiles. It is a canisterised missile with a range capability between 1,000 and 2,000 km.

The surface to a surface missile can carry a payload of around 1,000 kg or a nuclear warhead. The double stage missile is lighter and much sleeker than its predecessor Agni-1.

The Health Ministry says 640 more people have tested positive for COVID-19 today (June 28) increasing the daily count of positive cases to 1,850.

Earlier this evening the ministry confirmed 1,210 more positive cases of novel coronavirus.

The new development brings Sri Lanka’s confirmed coronavirus cases tally to 255,508.

According to official data, as many as 221,249 patients who were infected with the virus have regained health so far. Meanwhile, the death toll now stands at 2,985.

More than 31,315 active cases are currently under medical care at designated hospitals and treatment centres.

Amidst possibilities of Sri Lanka getting suspended from the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) Plus provided by the European Union, Sri Lankan apparel exporters are concerned over losing international apparel markets to regional apparel players such as India and Bangladesh whose cost of production is far more lower than that of Sri Lanka, The Morning Business learnt.

Speaking to us, Tuli Cooray, the Secretary General of Joint Apparel Association Forum Sri Lanka (JAAFSL) said that the loss of GSP Plus would considerably affect the apparel sector amidst the prevailing pandemic.

He explained: “The cost of operation in Sri Lanka is far higher than the one in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Cambodia.” Thus, countries such as Bangladesh, India (while being the largest fabric supplier in the global market) and Indonesia, in fact, would be benefitted unlike Sri Lanka due to the fact that the cost of operation is lower than the one in Sri Lanka as well as the countries who receive GSP facility among the mentioned, would apparently be benefitted.

As a result of the market shift that is taking place with the unstable presence of apparel of Sri Lanka, there is a possibility of losing $ 500 million of trade per annum which is clearly not a bearable burden for the sector, the Secretary General added.

“It is a 500 to 600 million US Dollar worth of trade that will be exported on zero duty basis when the UK is excluded, on apparel alone,” he said implying the magnanimity of the loss that might erupt if the GSP Plus is discontinued.

State Minister of Finance, Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal said: “We have to be prepared to face the situation if the GSP Plus facility is withdrawn. We have started a risk assessment to see how we can face any outcome. While steps are underway to deal with this on the diplomatic front, we also have to be prepared to deal with it on the economic front,” during the parliament session that took place on Wednesday (23).

Further elaborating on the impact due to the disconnection of the said financial facility that is provided by the EU, Cooray said “an established company may share the burden, but most of the companies (apparel) will not be able to bear the burden.”

“A single quantity of goods which costs approximately 500 mn USD is being exported by a large number of people to the EU and among those exported goods, almost 90% of them are exported on the GSP Plus basis,” Cooray emphasised. Therefore, this diversion agenda could result in a total disaster in terms of export income.

Certain giant industries might be able to cope up with the drastic change, however, he questions the status of the rest of the companies who engage in this sector of the industry.

Former Prime Minister and the leader of the United National Party (UNP) Ranil Wickremesinghe on 13 June, pointed out that generate foreign currency to the country are at risk and said, “this facility (GSP Plus) provides Sri Lanka with permission to export goods to Europe without taxation, which led to a boom in the garment and fishing industries,” explaining the necessity of the aforesaid EU provided facility.

Sri Lanka has banned passengers arriving from eight African countries, the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka said.

Captain Themiya Abeywickrama, Director General of the Civil Aviation and Chief Executive Officer of the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka said that all online and offline airlines have been directed that passengers with a travel history (including transit) in the past 14 days to Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe will not be permitted to disembark in Sri Lanka.

The restriction will come into effect from 0001hrs on 1st July 2021 (Local Time in Sri Lanka) and is applicable until 2359hrs on 31st of July 2021.

Abeywickrama said that the decision has been taken in accordance with instructions received from the Ministry of Health, due to the Covid-19 pandemic situation.