Category: News

The Cabinet of Ministers is to decide tomorrow (27) on gazetting the proposed 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, after looking at the final draft of the legislation that has received the approval of the Attorney General (AG), The Sunday Morning learns.

Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe told The Sunday Morning that the Government’s proposed 22nd Amendment had been approved by the Attorney General after the Legal Draftsman had passed it on to the Attorney General’s Department.

“The finalised draft will be presented to Cabinet on Monday and a decision will be made then on when to gazette the proposed Amendment,” he said, adding that the draft Amendment would be gazetted next week itself.

At the last Cabinet meeting, the Justice Minister presented a Cabinet note informing that the Government’s draft 21st Amendment would be identified in future as the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, since the draft Amendment presented by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) had already been gazetted as the 21st Amendment.

At the same meeting, Minister Prasanna Ranatunga had questioned whether the proposals presented by other MPs, especially ruling party MPs, to the proposed Amendment had been included in the draft that was presented to the Cabinet for approval.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe had noted that the relevant provisos (the President’s proposals) had been included, and that therefore there were no more issues in that regard.

After receiving the assurances from the Prime Minister and Justice Minister, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the draft Amendment with agreement that the legislation would be gazetted after the Cabinet saw the draft finalised by the Attorney General.

Sri Lankan citizens may only possess USD 10,000 in the form of foreign currency, reduced from the earlier permitted amount of USD 15,000, the Minister of Finance announced.

The directive, issued pursuant to Section 08 of Foreign Exchange Act No. 12 of 2017, is effective from the 16th of June.

In a statement, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) said the decision was taken with the intention of attracting foreign currency in the hands of the public into the formal banking system.

According to the CBSL, an amnesty period of 14 working days effective from the date of the Order (June 16, 2022) is granted for persons in, or resident in, Sri Lanka who hold foreign currency notes in possession for the following:

To deposit into a Personal Foreign Currency Account or into a Business Foreign Currency Account as specified in the Order, or

To sell to an Authorized Dealer (A licensed commercial bank or National Savings Bank)

At the end of the said amnesty period, the CBSL has the right to initiate actions against persons who hold foreign currency in possession by violating the Order, in terms of the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Act.

For further information, the general public can contact any licensed commercial bank or National Savings Bank, or refer to the Order under Section 8 of the Foreign Exchange Act published in the Gazette (Extraordinary) Notification No. 2284/34 dated 16 June 2022 via the official website of the Department of Foreign Exchange (www.dfe.lk).

They can also contact the Department of Foreign Exchange via 011-2477255, 011-2398511 and dfe@cbsl.lk.

A high-level delegation representing the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Department of State will visit Sri Lanka from June 26- 29, the U.S. Embassy in Colombo says.

Members of the delegation include Deputy Assistant Secretary of Treasury for Asia Robert Kaproth and Ambassador Kelly Keiderling, who is also the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia.

The visitors will meet with a wide range of political representatives, economists, and international organizations.

In all their meetings, they will explore the most effective ways for the U.S. to support Sri Lankans in need, Sri Lankans working to resolve the current economic crisis, and Sri Lankans planning for a sustainable and inclusive economy for the future, the U.S. Embassy said further in its statement.

“This visit underscores our ongoing commitment to the security and prosperity of the Sri Lankan people,” said U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung. “As Sri Lankans endure some of the greatest economic challenges in their history, our efforts to support economic growth and strengthen democratic institutions have never been more critical.”

Over the past two weeks, the U.S. has announced $120 million in new financing for Sri Lankan small and medium-sized businesses, a $27 million contribution to Sri Lanka’s dairy industry and $5.75 million in humanitarian assistance to help those hit hardest by the economic crisis.

The United States also committed $6 million in new grants to provide livelihood assistance to vulnerable populations, and technical assistance on financial reform that will help stabilize the economy.

In the coming months, the U.S. will continue to support Sri Lankans as they revive their economy, combat food insecurity, and promote public health and education.
The United States also strongly supports Sri Lanka’s decision to seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund, which can provide the most durable resolution to the present crisis.

Sri Lanka must consider the European Union as a friend, the Ambassadors from the region yesterday emphasised to the Government whilst assuring support to come out of the crisis.

This pledge was shared by Ambassadors of European countries when they called on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

A statement from the President’s Media said the EU delegation members pointed out that a firm message about the future plans of building the country’s economy will certainly pave the way for the international community to assist Sri Lanka.

Nearly 90% of the country’s population lives in rural areas and 75% of those people depend on agriculture. The President said that by providing them with the required fertiliser and fuel, many problems as well as the issues related to the supply of food could be solved.

Steps have been taken to provide uncultivated Government lands to those interested in agriculture as a solution to the land issue.

President Rajapaksa explained the initiatives launched by the Government to provide a lasting solution considering the humanitarian situation that has arisen after the war, as well as the fair manner maintained in the process of enforcing law without any party affiliation and interfering with the Ambassadors.

A number of areas, including investment, tourism and education, were discussed at length.

Delegation of the EU to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Ambassador Denis Chaibi, France Ambassador Eric Lavertu, Italian Ambassador Rita Mannella, Norwegian Ambassador Trine Jøranli Eskedal, Netherlands Ambassador Tanja Gonggrijp, Germany Ambassador Holger Lothar Seubert, Romanian Ambassador Victor Chiujdea, Turkish Ambassador Rakibe Şekercioğlu, and Swiss Ambassador Dominik Furgler attended the meeting with President Rajapaksa.

Chief of Staff to the President Anura Dissanayake and Admiral Jayanath Colombage were also present.

Minister of Ports, Shipping, and Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva while regretting the cancellation of Japanese projects, urged Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mizukoshi Hideaki, to invite investors to establish the proposed Trincomalee Industrial Zone.

The Minister met Ambassador Hideaki last week and regretted the cancellation of important development projects signed between Japan and Sri Lanka due to previous political decisions and mentioned that Japan has always assisted in development for closer political and socio-economic ties between the two countries, for which Sri Lanka is grateful to the people of Japan who have always come forward.

The Sri Lankan Government shelved the Japan-funded Light Rail Transit (LRT) project in 2020 and a major delay was shown in the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) expansion project also funded by Japan. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe too had said he is holding discussions with Japan to regain their confidence and secure their support and rebuild broken ties.

Minister de Silva recalled the immense assistance extended by the Japanese Government for the Peradeniya Children’s Hospital, Polonnaruwa General Hospital and many other health sector development projects during his tenure as the Minister of Health.

He also explained the delay of the Phase II BIA expansion project. A special report on the matter was handed over to the Japanese Ambassador. In particular, the Minister said that the Sri Lankan media has repeatedly raised the issue accusing him as the Subject Minister and the Government on delays in the project.

The Japanese Ambassador said he had been informed that project work had been delayed due to the Covid-19 Pandemic and Sri Lanka’s fuel crisis and pointed out that several other foreign companies engaged in the construction industry in Sri Lanka have also faced the situation.

The Ambassador expressed his confidence to resolve the matter soon and urged the Minister to sustain strong ties and credibility secured and continued between the two nations.

Mentioning that 65 per cent of the payments for the Phase II BIA expansion project are being done using Japanese Yen, the Minister inquired if the Government could facilitate to open a discussion with the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation if such foreign exchange could be used to purchase fuel required for construction work from foreign exporters.

The Minister also requested a meeting with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JAICA), Taisai Corporation Japan that has undertaken the project and the Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) (Pvt) Limited with the presence of Japanese Ambassador, the Secretary to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Aviation and staffs to discuss the issues on the Phase II constructions at BIA. First Secretary of the Japanese Embassy – Chiharu Hoshiai, Japan Deputy Head of Mission – Katsuki Kotaro were also present at the meeting.