Category: Breaking News

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) says it has initiated regulatory actions against four errant Authorized Money Changers engaged in activities which are not in compliance with the directions issued by the central bank.

In response to several complaints that certain Authorized Money Changers are engaged in activities which are not in compliance with the Directions issued under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Act No. 12 of 2017 (FEA), the Central Bank said it is conducting a series of spot examinations at the places of Authorized Money Changers, thereby strengthening the monitoring and supervision of the Authorized Money Changers.

In the spot examinations conducted during the months of November and December 2021, it was revealed that the following Authorized Money Changers have not complied with the Directions issued to them under the provisions of FEA.

Accordingly, after the Minister of Finance being informed, Notices have been issued to them to comply with the relevant Directions, within a specified time period, it said.

New Natasha (Pvt) Ltd at No. 12, Super Market Complex, Wennappuwa
George Michael Holdings (Pvt) Ltd at No. 157, Chilaw Road, Wennappuwa
Royal Money Exchange (Pvt) Ltd at No. 55, Galle Road, Colombo 06
Prasanna Money Exchange (Pvt) Ltd at No. 57, Galle Road, Colombo 06
In the event the errant Authorized Money Changers fail to rectify the issues communicated through the Notices, the Central Bank says it will be compelled to suspend and to revoke the permits issued to such Authorized Money Changers.

“The general public is also informed that Authorized Money Changers have no authority to transact foreign exchange at rates higher than those offered by the banks to such Money Changers,” the statement said.

Around 1,000 containers with essential goods imported are said to be stuck at the port due to the dollar crisis.

Most of them are said to be containing sprats, dried fish, coriander and spices imported from India. Some food items are even said to be at the risk of going bad, reports say.

‘Lankadeepa’ reports that a major importer today (09) said that the number of containers that are to be released are piling up due to the dollar shortage and the number of containers arriving are piling up at a faster rate than they are being released.

Importers say that if banks continued to issue dollars as usual, such delays would not occur.

The Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka has slammed the US in a paid advertisement published in a local newspaper today.

The paid advertisement has been published targeting the virtual Summit on Democracy for which China and Sri Lanka have not been invited.

The advertisement published on the widely read Daily Mirror newspaper accuses the US of having structural flaws and problematic practices in its democratic system.

India, Pakistan, Maldives and Nepal are among the South Asian countries invited to attend the Summit on Democracy.

China and Russia are among the few countries together with Sri Lanka not invited for the summit.

The list of participating countries made public by the US State Department notes that Taiwan as well as the Philippines and Mexico are among 110 countries invited for the summit.

President Joe Biden will host a virtual summit on December 9-10, 2021 for leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector. The summit will focus on challenges and opportunities facing democracies and will provide a platform for leaders to announce both individual and collective commitments, reforms, and initiatives to defend democracy and human rights at home and abroad.

For the United States, the summit will offer an opportunity to listen, learn, and engage with a diverse range of actors whose support and commitment is critical for global democratic renewal.

Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa says the importation of vehicles and recruitment of public sector employees will not be carried out in 2022.

Addressing an event, the lawmaker stressed that the government will have to impose restrictions on the aforementioned. Accordingly, new vehicles will not be imported and approval will not be given for recruitment to the public sector next year, he added.

Minister Rajapaksa urged the public sector authorities not to ask for new staff members. He stated that there is not enough workspace at some divisional secretariats for the employees.

Increasing the number of staff members will not improve the efficiency, he added.

Speaking further, the finance minister said an increase in foreign reserves was observed last year, but it drastically dropped this year due to the decrease in remittances sent by the migrant workers.

The country annually sends about 230,000 migrant workers overseas, but this figure shrunk to 53,000 last year, he added. However, more than 100,000 migrant workers are sent abroad now, Minister Rajapaksa continued, adding that the government’s target is to increase this number to 300,000 next year.

Participants in the “One Country, One Law” Presidential Task Force’s (PTF) public consultation held at one of the divisional secretariats (DSs) in the Eastern Province alleged that the discussion was held predominantly in Sinhala, with no proper translators or language interpreters, which severely limited the accessibility of the public consultation.

“They only spoke in Sinhala and there were no translators to translate the dialogue. If a person spoke in Tamil, it was translated with support from the crowd, but this was a very basic translation. Also, there were only about 25 participants at the meeting at the DS,” a participant told The Morning yesterday (9).

He further said that a monk from the area, allegedly known to incite tensions within communities, had spoken at great length during the consultation.

“While we understand that the concept behind the establishment of the said Task Force is productive, we felt that the consultation was mainly focused on the needs of Buddhists as opposed to those of us who are living in the area.”

However, when The Morning spoke to the said Task Force’s Chairman and Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) General Secretary Ven. Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera, he said that there had been no language problems at the public consultations.

“There was no problem at all. Many people could speak Sinhala and even if there was a problem, people in the crowd helped with the language barriers. We also took translators with us,” the monk said.

He added that mostly educated individuals had participated in these consultations and that the positive reaction and response to the consultations held so far was overwhelming.

The Presidential Media Division (PMD) said that the Task Force received a warm welcome in the Eastern Province, after which it had held public consultations at the Batticaloa and Valaichchenai DSs. The Task Force had also visited several mosques in the area.

However, speaking in Parliament on Wednesday (8), Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) Parliamentarian Shanakiyan Rasamanickam criticised the PMD’s actions and questioned whether it is the responsibility of the PMD to make such statements. “When the PMD said that Gnanasara Thera received a warm welcome, do they mean that it was hot there? Everyone in the Eastern Province is against this Task Force. Look at the state of the PMD? Is this what the PMD is there for? It is clear that there is Buddhist extremism in Sri Lanka. We heard phone recordings which were recently released where we all heard the way Gnanasara Thera spoke to another monk. While I appreciate the other monk’s patience in his responses, look at the way we are heading as a country,” he said.

Recently, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed a Task Force to formulate a conceptual framework for the concept of “One Country, One Law”, chaired by Ven. Gnanasara Thera, who has been accused of inciting hate and violence towards the Muslim community. The Task Force garnered criticism from various quarters, including the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL).

In August 2018, Ven. Gnanasara Thera was sentenced to prison for six years after being found guilty of contempt of court over his conduct during a court hearing regarding the case of missing journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda. However, he only served a few months of this sentence as he was granted a presidential pardon in May 2019 by then President Maithripala Sirisena.

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Harsha de Silva has said that by January, the government will only be left with USD 140 million after repaying the foreign debt owed.

He made these comments while participating in the budget debate in Parliament.

He pointed out that the amount of debt owed between February and October is USD 4,843 million, but by the end of this month, only USD 140 million will be available. Therefore, the balance would be a negative USD 4700 million.

“If we are unable to settle the due loan repayments, the whole system will shut down,” he warned, while reasserting that the IMF is the only alternative left.

This would eventually lead the country to bankruptcy, he noted.

Meanwhile, participating in the ‘Neth FM Unlimited’ programme which aired last night (08), the opposition lawmaker said that the statement made by the Governor of the Central Bank calling for foreign currency to be brought into the country only through formal means is not practical.

He said that maintaining the value of the dollar at Rs. 200 by the Central Bank in the background where the black market price of a dollar hovers around Rs. 240 could create a further crisis.

Dr. Harsha de Silva also stated that the Central Bank does not have the capability to keep the dollar from depreciating by force.