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National policy to protect ecologically sensitive areas awaits whetting by AG

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By Ifham Nizam

The national policy to protect ecologically sensitive areas in Sri Lanka had been completed, Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said yesterday, adding that steps would be taken to submit it to the Attorney General’s Department for whetting and to the Cabinet and Parliament subsequently.

“Our country is rich in biodiversity. According to the National Red Data List, 253 species of snails, 245 species of butterflies, 240 species of birds, 211 species of reptiles, 748 species of vertebrates and 1492 species of invertebrates live in our environment.”

“Nearly 43% of the Teridopite species, 87% of the amphibians, 59% of the reptiles, 19% of the mammals and seven percent of the bird species were endemic as well as 336 species of ferns and 3154 species of flowering plants,” he said

“As the Minister of Environment, I fulfill my responsibility to take policy measures to protect all these natural resources. Therefore, the draft National Policy on Environmentally Sensitive Areas in Sri Lanka has now been prepared. These days I am studying its legal provisions”, the Minister said.

He also said that it was the first time that a national policy on such sensitive environmental zones had been formulated in Sri Lanka.

Those included Gangawadiya and Eluwankulama in Puttalam District, Manewa in the Anuradhapura District and Galnewa in the Kurunegala district.

When development projects were carried out without the requisite national policy protection such sensitive environmental areas might not be identified and thus unknowingly damaged, the Minister said. Living in such sensitive ecosystems, even endangered species of animals and plants could become extinct, he added.

“We also plan to designate three sensitive marine ecological zones in line with this policy. The first is the ocean region from Mannar to Rameshwaram. We look forward to the support of the government of India in designating this marine zone as a sensitive ecosystem. The other two are Trincomalee and Batticaloa Marine Zones and South sea zone from Galle to Hambantota zones.

“We will designate these three zones as sensitive ecological zones and take steps to conserve them.”



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Heat Index at Caution level in Northern, North-Central, North-western and Eastern provinces and Monaragala and Hambanthota districts

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Heat index Advisory Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre At 07.30 a.m. 28 May 2023, valid for 28 May 2023

Heat index, the temperature felt on the human body is expected to increase up to ‘Caution’ level at some places in Northern, North-Central, North-western and Eastern provinces and Monaragala and Hambanthota districts.

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GCE Ordinary Level examination commences on Monday (29)

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The General Certificate of Education (Ordinary Level) examination 2022 (2023) will commence on Monday (29).

472,553 candidates have applied to to sit this years examination which will be held at 3568 examination centers

The examination will conclude on 8th June 2023

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Personal income tax shock dims economic activities

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ECONOMYNEXTSri Lanka’s personal income tax hikes have hit economic activity in the first quarter though despite currency stability helped businesses cut prices, Hemas Holdings, a top consumer goods group has said.As the currency stabilized, as central bank ended contradictory money and exchange policy conflicts, businesses had cut prices. Mainstream economists generally claim that price falls lead to delayed transactions and try to generate positive inflation through money printing, though businesses believe otherwise.

“The market witnessed price reductions and promotional trade schemes to stimulate consumption,” Hemas Holding told shareholders in the March quarterly statement.

“However, changes made to the personal income tax structure severely impacted modern trade sales volumes as consumers rationalised their purchases under reduced disposable income levels.”

Sri Lanka hiked personal income tax rates in 2023. Value added taxes were raised to 15 percent from 8 percent last year. Another 2.5 percent cascading tax was imposed on top of VAT, the effect of which was estimated to be around 4.5 or more through the cascading effect.

While value added tax allows the government to get tax revenues after citizens make transactions and getting the economy to work, based on best decisions needed to drive the economy to satisfy real needs, income tax kills economic decisions and transfers money to state actors, analysts say.

Net gains on income tax therefore comes at a cost of lost value added tax as well as killed real economic activities which would otherwise have been based on decisions of those who earned the money.

UK also almost doubled VAT in 1979, also to 15 percent, cut the base income tax rate and widened thresholds above inflation to give choice to individuals, amid criticism from Keynesian style or mainstream economists to recover the economy, after two back-to-back IMF programs failed to deliver concrete results, analysts point out.At Hemas Holdings, group revenues went up 52.6 percent to 32 billion rupees in the March 2023 quarter from year earlier amid price inflation as the rupee fell, and cost of sales went up 45.1 percent to 22.2 billion rupees, allowing the group to boost gross profits 72 percent to 9.8 billion rupees, interim accounts showed.

However, administration costs went up 54 percent, selling and distribution costs went up 36 percent, and finance costs went up to 1.3 billion rupees. Profit after tax was flat at 1.06 billion rupees.Sri Lanka’s central bank stabilized the rupee in the second half of 2022 after the rupee collapsed from 200 to 360 to from two years of money printing and also removed a surrender rule in March allowing the exchange rate appreciate.

The US Fed also tightened policy from March 2022 helping bring down global commodity prices after triggering inflation not seen for 40 years through Coronavirus linked money printing or accommodating a real shock through monetary expansion.

“While the modern trade channels witnessed a slow down due to the adverse impact of the tax reforms and high cost of credit on the middle-class urban population, the general trade channels experienced significant growth and increased foot fall,” Hemas told shareholders.

“The decline in global commodity prices in the second half of the year, enabled the business to make price reductions across the portfolio.

“However, the benefit of appreciation of the Sri Lankan Rupee in March 2023 was not seen during the quarter due to the lag effect but is expected to realise in the quarters to come, provided the current economic conditions prevail.”

Hemas is also has operations in Bangladesh where the central bank is also buying up government securities with tenors as long at 20 years to mis-target the interest rate, triggering forex shortages and depreciating the Taka, according to analysts who study the country.

Inflation had hit 9.3 percent in Bangladesh by March.

“In the face of numerous challenges including slowdown in the global economy, depreciation in Taka, heightened inflation and depleting foreign currency reserves, the country entered an IMF programme in January 2023,” the firm said.

“The value-added hair oil market witnessed a degrowth, as consumers curbed consumption in many non-essential items and switched to value-for-money alternatives.”

Mainstream economists mis-target rates to boost growth known as either monetary stimulus or bridging an output gap, though the effort result in instability and economic contractions.

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