Category: News

UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday (16), warned the US dollar would reach Rs 300 before the end of the year.

In a statement, he said the economy is deteriorating, while both the dollar deficit and the rupee deficit have not been resolved yet.

“Today, the real value of the rupee is actually Rs 250 to the dollar. Even more so, this way it can go up to Rs 275. If we do not stop there, it will reach Rs 300 before the end of the year,” he said.

The middle class is facing hardship, many are being pushed down the economic ladder. The agriculture sector has been destroyed. Small and big businessmen are unable to procure goods to do their work. This is the problem faced by the citizens. By June and July, we will have to repay foreign loans again. We have a total of US$ 6 billion to repay this year. We have not yet discussed the situation with the IMF. So we have to find the money to repay the loans in June and July. New problems are continuing to arise and this is why the banking system has been abandoned, Wickremesinghe said.

“Under Article 4 of the IMF’s Constitution, each member state is required to discuss and report on its economic situation once a year. The IMF team arrived in Sri Lanka last December. We know that the report will be presented next week. As soon as the Government receives that report they have to present it to Parliament. Once it is presented to Parliament we must hold a debate on it. The proposals put forth in the report must be discussed. From there, we will see if we can come to a consensus and agree to basic principles. It is our duty,” he said.

Speaking further, the UNP Leader said, “Our country just has a single resource and that is the younger generation which comprise Millennials and Generation Zs. We need to think about that group. They want to create a future, but they have lost faith. The Government has broken its trust.”

Sri Lanka’s printing industry is facing difficulties to continue operations due to the shortage of raw materials.

The Book Publishers’ Association recently pointed out that the prices of paper have risen by about 150 percent amidst the prevailing shortage of US dollars to import the paper required to meet the local demand.

The rate of paper imported to Sri Lanka is now gradually declining, compared to 120,000 tonnes of paper imported to the country every month usually, a spokesperson for the National Paper Company Limited told News 1st.

The Printing Press Owners meanwhile, pointed out that there is a shortage of Ink and Toners as well in the local market.

Earlier, Sri Lankan Book Publishers warned that the book publishing process for school Exercise Books has dropped by 70%, mainly due to banks not opening Letters of Credit to import paper.

Book Publishers told News 1st that they are finding it difficult to source paper to keep up with the demand.

Due to the present economic situation, their production process which operated all week is limited to two to three days, local publishers said.

They are requesting the authorities to immediately intervene and solve the issue and warned that if this situation continues there will be a serious shortage of exercise books when schools re-open for the second term.

*Several MPs in the government ranks voiced their concerns and disappointment at the way they were being treated by the SLPP

*Ranawaka is already in discussions with Wickremesinghe and Welgama to form a common alliance

*Sirisena is also eying the leadership of a new alliance and is in talks with some political parties to contest a future election separately

All major political parties in Sri Lanka are presently struggling to remain intact and are likely to start splitting, with one alliance already to be named in early March signalling a split in the present government, the Daily Mirror learns.

The alliance which will be announced early March will be of 12 political parties who are presently with the government coming together as one alliance, while continuing to function with the SLPP. This includes some SLFP members and the parties led by Wimal Weerawansa, Udaya Gammanpila and Vasudeva Nanayakkara. The alliance is likely to be announced in the first week of March.

A split in the government was very evident when the co parties of the government were left out from the SLPP convention held in Anuradhapura last week. Several MPs in the government ranks voiced their concerns and disappointment at the way they were being treated by the SLPP and will now come under one separate alliance while continuing to function in the government. The second alliance under discussion is that of SJB MP Champika Ranawaka, UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and Kumar Welgama.

The Daily Mirror learns that Ranawaka has asked for the deputy leadership post from SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa who is yet to respond. Ranawaka has in the past not denied his intention to contest a future presidency and is already in discussions with Wickremesinghe and Welgama to form a common alliance. Some SLFP MPs have also agreed to join this alliance. Discussions are still underway and not finalized yet, senior political sources said.

Minority parties in the SJB have also voiced their disappointment at the SJB Leadership as they were promised the SJB would convert into a broad alliance and not function as one party, giving these MPs more recognition. However, this pledge is yet to be fulfilled by Premadasa. Some MPs representing the minority parties are now awaiting the formation of new alliances to decide their future. The third alliance in the offing is that of former president Maithripala Sirisena. Political sources said that Sirisena is also eying the leadership of a new alliance and is in talks with some political parties to contest a future election separately.

Sri Lankan banks are likely to face continued asset-quality pressure in 2022 as rising macroeconomic stresses stemming from the sovereign credit profile pose a threat to borrowers’ repayment capacity, alongside the conclusion of most relief measures in 2021, Fitch Ratings said in a release.

Fitch-rated banks’ stage 3 (impaired) loans ratio has remained broadly unchanged since 2019 (9M21: 9.4%, 2019: 9.5%), as relief measures prevented deterioration in lending quality. However, asset-quality pressure was evident in elevated loan-impairment charges and a rising share of stage 2 loans in gross loans. The share of loans under moratorium at Fitch-rated banks declined, estimated at 10% of gross loans at end-September 2021 (end-1H20: 26%).

Fitch expects Sri Lanka’s economic performance to weaken in 2022, forecasting growth to slow to 2.0%, although downside risks to forecasts remain. Stage 3 loans are likely to increase in 2022 but a sharp rise in the ratio may not be apparent due to robust loan growth. Credit costs are likely to remain high, although below 2021.

“We believe Sri Lankan banks face added asset-quality pressure from their government securities holdings, particularly those denominated in foreign currency which accounted for around 6.5% of Fitch-rated banks’ total assets at end-9M21,” Fitch Ratings said.

The report, “Sri Lankan Banks Dashboard: February 2022”, is available at www.fitchratings.com or by clicking the link in this media release.

While denouncing the use of Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and the section 120 of the penal code to restrict the right to freedom of expression, National Peoples’ Power (NPP) today urged the government to uphold democratic values, ensure fundamental rights of the people and to follow rule of law by ensuring national security in the country.

NPP said in a statement that they have observed a tendency of using the PTA,section 120 of the penal code and provisions of the ICCPR Act as tools to restrict the fundamental rights, the right to justice in law, equality and the right to equality before the law.

“We strongly condemn the use of law enforcement authorities to restrict the freedom of speech and expression ensured by the Constitution.We condemn and reject the attack on journalist Chamuditha Samarawickrame’s residence and the arrest of social activist Shehan Malaka,” the NPP said.

The NPP said they were perturbed by the attack on journalist Chamuditha’s residence which was located in a secured place with CCTV cameras and added that they believed that any gang without political blessing would not have resorted to such an attack.

The NPP said the attack on Chamuditha’s residence gives a warning that an armed force with similar powers to the government armed forces was raising its head beyond the control of the police and law enforcement agencies.