News

Central Bank informs EPF members: “decided to opt for” DDO

Published

3 years ago

2023/09/17

By Shihar Aneez

ECONOMYNEXT –The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) informed the members of the EPF, the country’s largest pension scheme, that it has opted for the government’s domestic debt optimization (DDO) option with a long-term view in the best interest of the members.

It said the two options given to the EPF under the parliament approved DDO were exchange option and non-exchange option.A central bank’s analysis showed the return on EPF could fall to as low as 6.79 percent if the DDO option was not chosen within the next 12 years as against 8.02 percent if opted for DDO.

Under the exchange option, the EPF can exchange a minimum required amount of existing Treasury bonds with 12 new Treasury bond series that mature from 2027 to 2038 and the new bonds are offered with a coupon rate of 12 percent per annum until 2026 and nine percent

thereafter. The EPF would continue to pay income tax at 14 percent per annum on its taxable income attributable from its Treasury bond portfolio.Under the non-exchange option, the existing Treasury bonds will be subject to a 30 percent tax rate on the taxable income of the Treasury bond portfolio.

“…the Monetary Board of the CBSL as the custodian of the EPF, having considered the two options available, decided to opt for the Debt Exchange offer with a long-term view in the best interest of the members of the Fund,” the central bank said in a statement.

The EPF has tendered 2,667.5 billion face value of Treasury bonds for debt exchange, including an additional 149 billion rupees in addition to the minimum participation requirement considering comparative benefits to the Fund, it said.

“The Government has accepted the same and issued new Treasury Bonds to EPF with an equivalent face value.”

President Ranil Wickremesunghe’s government got the parliament approval for the DDO early in July, but it was delayed as parliament could not amend the Inland Revenue Act in tandem with the DDO following fundamental rights cases filed by opposition and activists. However, the Supreme Court cleared the legal barrier early this month.

The central bank said the decision was taken after careful analysis by experts.

“The Monetary Board envisaged that out of the two options, Debt Exchange is distinctly the better option considering the assessments that have been carried out on the basis of several prudent and realistic assumptions,” it said.

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News

Animal Welfare Draft Bill to be Gazetted

Published

14 hours ago

2026/06/24

Priyan

A specialists committee has been appointed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation adhering to the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers dated 29.12.2025 for submitting appropriate recommendations analyzing the provisions of the draft bill formulation in regard to Animal Welfare.

Based on the recommendations of the said Committee, the Legal Draftsman has been instructed at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers held on 18.05.2026 to prepare the final bill on the animal welfare.

Wherefore, the Legal Draftsman has formulated the draft bill and the clearance of the Attorney General has been received in the connection.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation to publish the said draft bill in the
Government Gazette Notification and subsequently forward the same to the Parliament for its concurrence.

News

Legal provisions on marking voters using indelible ink during elections removed

Published

14 hours ago

2026/06/24

Priyan

Under the legal provisions for elections in this country since 2004, it is mandatory for voters who come to mark their votes to verify their identity through a valid identity card, and it is also mandatory for all such voters to be marked with an appropriate mark using indelible ink. The dual purpose of these two functions is to prevent a voter from voting more than once in a single election.

It has been observed that having to follow two different
methods at the same time to achieve the same objective hinders the efficiency of the duties performed at the polling stations and also incurs additional costs to the government.

Therefore, it has been deemed appropriate to remove the legal provisions regarding the use of indelible ink and marking the voter with the appropriate mark from all election acts.

Accordingly, the development activities of the province, as well as national security, will benefit. Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the
President to take necessary steps to remove the legal provisions

• Section 36 of the presidential Election Act, No 15 of 1981
• Section 38 of the Parliamentary Election Act, No 01 of 1981
• Section 36 of the Provincial Council Election Act, No 02 of 1988
• Section 53 A of the Local Government Elections Ordinance (262 Authority)
• Section 21 of the Referendum Act No 7 of 1981

News

Showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts

Published

15 hours ago

2026/06/24

Priyan

WEATHER FORECAST FOR 24 JUNE 2026
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 24 June 2026 by the Department of Meteorology

Several spells of showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts. Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in the Uva province and in Ampara and Batticaloa districts after 2.00 p.m.

Fairly strong winds about (30-40) kmph can be expectedat times over the Western slopes of the central hills, the Northern, North-central, North-western and Southern provinces and in Trincomalee district.

The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.