News
Lanka awaits emergency aid to the tune of USD 500 mn from ADB, World Bank in coming months, says Finance Minister Sabry
By Ifham Nizam
USD 500 million out of the total amount of funds sought by Sri Lanka is expected to come as emergency aid from the Asian Development Bank and World Bank in the next six months, Finance Minister Ali Sabry said in a Bloomberg Television interview.
Meanwhile, US Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu in the Twitter said that U.S. welcomes Sri Lanka and the International Monetary Fund working towards a sustainable solution to relieve the economic hardships for its people.
The Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs said that Assistant Secretary Lu, Sri Lankan Finance Minister Sabry and Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe discussed matters on overcoming the ongoing economic challenges in Sri Lanka.
Sabry also said during the interview that Sri Lanka might take nearly three weeks to appoint advisers to guide an overhaul of its debt.
He said that Sri Lanka was seeking as much as USD four billion this year to help ease shortages of food, fuel and medicines as its foreign reserves had dried up and it was heading for a default on its international debt.
“Our talks have been centered around restructuring, and along with that to go forward for a proper programme with the IMF,” Minister Sabry said. An IMF programme “requires debt restructuring when they come to the finding that it is not sustainable in the long run.”
It has been reported that former Inspector General of Police (IGP) C.D. Wickramaratne has been found dead at his residence in Athurugiriya this morning (17)
it is suspected that he may have taken his own life.
A heated argument broke out between Jaffna District MP Archchuna Ramanathan and Fisheries Minister Ramalingam Chandrasekar during the Kilinochchi District Coordination Committee meeting held yesterday (16).
A video footage of the incident shows the MP and the Minister engaging in a heated verbal exchange, following which a physical confrontation appeared to develop when the Minister attempted to grab files reportedly in the possession of MP Ramanathan.
“If you lay a hand on me, I’ll lay a hand on you too… got it?” Ramanathan is heard telling the Minister during the exchange.
Police and officials present at the meeting intervened to prevent the situation from escalating further.
The circumstances that led to the confrontation were not immediately clear.
Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith has filed an intervening petition before the Court of Appeal in connection with a petition filed by former head of the State Intelligence Service, Major General (Retired) Suresh Sallay, challenging his arrest and detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act over investigations into the Easter Sunday terror attacks.
The Cardinal has sought permission from the court to make submissions in relation to Sallay’s petition and requested that it be dismissed.
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