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Sri Lanka awaiting assurances from India, China, says Central Bank Governor

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Sri Lanka is waiting for financing assurances from its bilateral creditors, including India and China, to tap support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Governor P. Nandalal Weerasinghe has told The Hindu in an interview.

Over the past few months, Sri Lanka has been in talks with China, Japan, and India — its three major bilateral creditors — to restructure the billions of dollars owed to them. “We have shared all the information possible with our bilateral creditors, on an open, comparable, and transparent basis. Now they will have to look at it, make their decisions internally and come back to us … we hope they will do that soon,” the Governor of the apex Bank told The Hindu.

Although Sri Lanka aimed to secure IMF relief before the end of this year it failed to, as bilateral negotiations dragged. Talks with China got a “little delayed”, Governor Weerasinghe observed, citing “internal issues” such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s national congress held in October, and “COVID-19 restrictions” in China.

But the delay in discussions with China “is not the only reason” for Sri Lanka’s inability to secure the IMF package this year, in his view. Japan, and the Paris Club of which it is a member, “know this business” [of debt restructure] as they have “been doing it for many years”, he said. “Because of that, they are more advanced in their engagement. They have done the analysis and shared it with non-Paris Club members like India and China,” Weerasinghe said, adding: “Now, it is up to them.” After the creditors provide financing assurances, it would likely take the IMF Board four to six weeks to approve the package, he said.



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Cabinet approves recruitment of 2,284 to government service

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The Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal submitted by the  Prime Minister to recruit 2,284 to the government service as per the recommendations of the ‘Committee appointed to review the recruitment process of the Government Service at its meeting held on 14.11.2025.

1. Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education 196

2. Ministry of Health and Mass Media 480

3. Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and
Local Governments 04

4. Ministry of Finance, Policy Planning and Economic
Development 19

5. Ministry of Transport, Highways and Urban Development 778

6. Ministry of Justice and National Integration 222

7. Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development 107

8. Ministry of Defense 73

9. Ministry of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources 20

10. Ministry of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs 21

11. Ministry of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development 36

12. Ministry of Buddha Shasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs
04
13. Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure
Facilities 02

14. Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation 74

15. Western Provincial Council 230

16. Uva Provincial Council 08

17. North Western Provincial Council 08

18. Finance Commission 02

 

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Cabinet green light to obtain a grant from the Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund for post – disaster relief and rehabilitation activities

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On a request made by the government of Sri Lanka,  the Asian Development Bank has given its concurrence to provide a grant of United States dollars 3 million under Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund.

It is expected to supply materials required for providing essential life security services for the communities affected,  from the said grant.

Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal submitted by the President as the Minister of Finance, Plan Implementation and Economic Development to enter into the relevant agreements with the Asian Development Bank to obtain the said grant.

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Cabinet approves establishment of two 50 MW wind power stations in Mullikulum, Mannar region

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Adhering to the broad plan of the Government to reach the objective of accomplishing 70% of the country’s electricity supply from renewable energy sources by the year 2030, the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted on 10.02.2025 to invite requests for resolutions from interested developers of the private sector in order to implement the Mullikulum Wind Power – 100 Mega Watts (two (02) wind power stations of
50 Mega Watts each) on the basis of construction, ownership and execution with a monitoring period of 20 years.

Accordingly, requests for proposals have been called to implement the relevant project by adhering to the international competitive bidding methodology, and seven (7) prospective project proposals were submitted.

Evaluating the said proposals, based on the recommendations submitted by the negotiation committee appointed by the Cabinet of Ministers, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Power to award the contracts of establishing the two (02) 50 Mega Watts Wind
Power Stations to Consortium of Vidullanka PLC & David Pieris Motor Company (Lanka) Limited and WindForce PLC.

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