Category: News

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) does not support providing subsidies to everyone in Sri Lanka.

Krishna Srinivasan, Director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department said that there needs to be targeted support to the poor and vulnerable in Sri Lanka.

“We fully sympathize and understand the hardship faced by people in terms of falling wages, cost of living increases, and so on, and we’re fully sympathetic to that. But again, the program, we do have, , prices reflecting cost recovery. And why is that important? It’s important because otherwise the electricity sector faces losses and that becomes a public problem down the road. So, you have to have cost recovery. I think that’s important. You also don’t want to provide, subsidies to everyone. It should be more progressive. And here we believe the targeted support to the poor and vulnerable is the way to go,” Srinivasan told reporters.

He also said that efficiency in the energy sector and the electricity sector could be increased through structural reforms.

“And, in general, SOE reforms are important in Sri Lanka. And that’s part of the program we have where the IMF working at the World Bank is pushing ahead with reforms to SOEs, including in the electricity sector,” he added.

Krishna Srinivasan also said that as part of the IMF review on Sri Lanka, what will be required will be financing assurances.

“In that context we will look to see how much progress has been made on debt restructuring efforts and if there are any agreements, then how do they square with the debt targets and so on? So, it’s part of the process of the second review,” he said.

Srinivasan said that the financial sector review will look at what restructuring is taking place within other creditors, including private creditors.

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe is considering India’s request to not allow Chinese Survey and Research Vessel Shi Yan 6 to undertake a joint military scientific research with the island nation’s National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) in Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone between late October and November this year, people familiar with the matter said.

President Wickremesinghe’s response to the issue, raised by external affairs minister S Jaishankar during his meeting with the Sri Lankan head of state in Colombo on October 11, was non-committal, the people added, asking not to be named. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali Sabry was quoted by Sri Lanka’s The Island newspaper on October 9 saying that his country had given permission to the Chinese ship for docking at Colombo deep seaport in November. The same report quoted him as saying that Sri Lanka does not want “to get involved” with “big power rivalry going on” between “China, India and the US”.

Interestingly, a US navy ship, USNS Brunswick, docked in Colombo on Wednesday, and no dates have yet been announced for the visit of Shin Yan 6, the Chinese vessel.

The Chinese vessel was earlier maintaining position 1,000 km east of the China-controlled Hambantota port in the Island nation, and is currently about 280 nautical miles (500 km) east of Chennai in the Bay of Bengal. Carrying nearly 2,000 tonnes of diesel, the ship has enough supplies to last for two more months. The ship entered the Indian Ocean Region on September 23.

In July, after a visit by the Sri Lankan President, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it was “necessary” the two countries worked “together, keeping in mind each other’s security interests”. The final decision on the ship, HT learns, may be taken by Wickremesinghe during his visit to Beijing to attend the BRI summit on October 17-18 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Over the past five years, Chinese ships have been active in the Indian Ocean Region with the PLA Navy growing into a proper blue water navy.

The total number of vessels including warships, ballistic missile trackers, survey and research vessels recorded in 2019 were 29, grew to 39 in 2020, then 45 in 2021 and 43 in 2022. This year, till September 15, 28 Chinese ships have been recorded in the region.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said it has serious concerns over two bills under consideration in the Sri Lankan Parliament – the revised Anti-Terrorism Bill and the Online Safety Bill – which give the authorities a range of expansive powers and can impose restrictions on human rights, not in line with international human rights law.

Spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Ravina Shamdasani said the Anti-Terrorism Bill is intended to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which has long been of concern to the UN human rights mechanisms.

“While some positive revisions have been made in the draft, including the removal of the death penalty as a possible punishment, there are still major concerns about the scope and discriminatory effects of many provisions in the revised draft. Restrictions to the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are very likely to fail to meet requirements of necessity and proportionality,” she said, according to briefing notes circulated to the press.

“The Bill still includes an overly broad definition of terrorism and grants wide powers to the police – and to the military – to stop, question and search, and to arrest and detain people, with inadequate judicial oversight. Other issues remain over the imposition of curfews, restriction orders and the designation of prohibited places, all of which raise concerns about the scope of powers granted to the executive without sufficient checks and balances. With respect to the Online Safety Bill, we believe it will severely regulate and restrict online communication, including by the public, and will give authorities unfettered discretion to label and restrict expressions they disagree with as “false statements”.

Many sections of the Bill contain vaguely defined terms and definitions of offences which leave significant room for arbitrary and subjective interpretation, and could potentially criminalize nearly all forms of legitimate expression, creating an environment that has a chilling effect on freedom of expression. The UN Human Rights Office urges the Government to undertake further meaningful consultation with civil society and UN independent experts and to make substantial revisions of the draft laws in order to bring them into full compliance with Sri Lanka’s international human rights obligations,” she said.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe of Sri Lanka is set to embark on an official visit to China on October 14, where he will participate in a conference in Beijing marking the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This visit holds particular significance, given the recent crucial understanding reached between Sri Lanka and China regarding debt restructuring.

The Belt and Road Initiative, a colossal global infrastructure and economic development project launched by China, has been a focal point of international collaboration and investment. As the initiative celebrates its 10th anniversary, President Wickremesinghe’s presence at the conference underscores Sri Lanka’s commitment to fostering strong bilateral relations and participating in this monumental global initiative.

During his visit to Beijing, President Wickremesinghe is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping for discussions on a wide range of topics. This meeting is anticipated to further strengthen the diplomatic, economic, and strategic ties between the two nations. China is one of Sri Lanka’s most significant creditors, making cooperation and understanding vital for both parties.

The visit comes on the heels of a significant development in the Sri Lanka-China relationship, as the two countries recently reached an important understanding regarding debt restructuring. This understanding is expected to have a substantial impact on Sri Lanka’s economic stability and its ability to manage its debt burden effectively.

Sri Lanka has faced economic challenges, and the debt restructuring agreement with China signals a positive step towards addressing these issues. The debt agreement is expected to provide Sri Lanka with more favorable terms, reducing the burden on the nation’s economy.

The National Catholic Committee (NCC) has presented a five-point proposal to President Ranil Wickremesinghe, spelling out how it expects the concerns relating to the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage to be addressed.

The proposal includes the suspension of Senior DIGs, Nilantha Jayawardena, former head of State Intelligence Service (SIS) and Deshabandu Tennkoon named by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry which inquired into the Easter Sunday massacre.

The NCC has proposed an impartial, just, transparent and broad-based investigation in the wake of Channel 4 disclosures to probe the matters that transpired before different commissions and a committee but have remained uninvestigated.

The letter containing the five-point proposal dated 09 Oct. 2023 and addressed to President Ranil Wickremesinghe, has been signed by Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Bishop of Colombo, Bishop Harold Anthony Perera, Bishop of Kurunegala and the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Valence Mendis, Bishop of Kandy/Apostolic Administrator, Chilaw, Bishop Raymond Wickramasinghe, Bishop of Galle and other senior priests.

Alleging that Public Security Minister Tiran Alles’s recent declaration that 99 percent of Easter Sunday investigation had been concluded was meant to deceive the public and suppress the truth, the NCC has said that (2) the proposed investigation should be directed by an independent international investigation team (3) officers of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) who conducted the original investigation into the National Thowheed Jamaat (NTJ) bombing campaign should be brought back into the fresh inquiry (4) Senior intelligence officers should be suspended temporarily to allow a truly independent investigation along with Senior DIGs, Jayawardena and Tennakoon and (5) the recommendations made by the PCoI should be implemented without further delay.

Top spokesperson for the Catholic Church Rev. Father Cyril Gamini Fernando told The Island that the issues at hand couldn’t be addressed unless the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government accepted their proposals.

Rev. Fernando has said President Wickremesinghe, appearing on a television programme in Germany recently ruled out an international investigation. But the Church couldn’t refrain from making representations on behalf of the victims and their families. The priest has stressed that the government should realise that the deceased included 45 foreigners and the concerns of their families, too, should be addressed.

Responding to another query, Rev. Fernando said that they had appealed to former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, too, but there had been no response from him.

In their letter to President Wickremesinghe, the NCC has said successive governments shielded Senior DIG Jayawardena named by PCoI and the Supreme Court in respect of a fundamental rights petition. Pointing out that instead of taking immediate disciplinary action as directed by the apex court, the government had initiated yet another inquiry, the NCC has asked President Wickremesinghe whether the government disregarded the SC directive thereby committing contempt of court