News
SLPP concerned about revenue proposals but won’t rock the boat
Final vote on Budget 2024 today:
Namal R. to skip vote
By Shamindra Ferdinando
The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) on Monday (11) decided to vote for the Third Reading of the Appropriation Bill (2024) today (13).
The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Premier Gunawardena, who is also the leader of the MEP. Gunawardena emphasised the responsibility on the SLPP to thwart Opposition’s attempts to dislodge the government ahead of the releasing of the second tranche of the USD 2.9 bn IMF bailout.
The warning was issued at a group meeting at the Committee Room 01. SLPP leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, Chief Government Whip Prasanna Ranatunga and Leader of the House Susil Premjayantha were present at the meeting held before the commencement of the day’s proceedings. State Finance Ministers Ranjith Siyambalapitiya and Shehan Semasinghe, too, attended the meeting.
Political sources said that Premier Gunawardena had explained the need to foil Opposition plans after Rear Admiral (retd.) Sarath Weerasekera strongly criticised increase of the Value-Added Tax (VAT) from 15% to 18% and imposition of VAT on 97 out of the 138 goods that were previously exempted from the tax. The MEP group in Parliament consists of three lawmakers, including the Premier.
In response to The Island query, SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam said that the party would vote yes at the final vote though it didn’t agree with revenue proposals 100%. Attorney-at-Law Kariyawasam said that defeating of the 2024 Budget would cause economic and political chaos.
The SLPP announced the controversial decision as the party prepared to hold its second convention on Friday, December 15, at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium.
During the group meeting at Committee Room 1, former Public Security Minister Weerasekera pointed out the failure on the part of successive governments to collect taxes, penalties and interest amounting to Rs 943 bn as disclosed recently by the relevant parliamentary watchdog.
Expressing serious concern over major taxpayers’ taking advantage of the legal process to hold up the entire process, lawmaker Weerasekera pointed out as much as Rs 35 bn in VAT hadn’t been paid to the government. The Colombo District MP also questioned the failure on the part of the relevant authorities to collect VAT received by traders and staggering Rs 55 billion dud cheques issued to the government.
MP Weerasekera said that instead of going flat out to collect money owed to the government, taxes had been raised, new taxes introduced and the VAT imposed on items that were previously exempted from it. The ex-Minister stressed that the government strategy was not fair to the people struggling to make ends meet as imposition of further indirect taxes could be quite devastating.
The Second Reading of the Appropriation Bill for the year 2024 was passed in the Parliament on Nov 21 by a majority of 45 votes. Altogether 122 MPs voted for the Bill and 77 voted against it.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as the Finance Minister presented the budget on Nov 13.
Political sources said that the UNP and SLPP at the highest level agreed in principle that they would work together, regardless of differences. SLPP MP Namal Rajapaksa, having skipped the vote on VAT on Monday, was most likely to refrain from voting today, sources said, adding that there was consensus between the two sides that the current alliance should remain.
The SLPP elected UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe in July last year to complete the remainder of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s five-year term.
The next presidential election has to be conducted and a new president elected by Nov 2024.
The price of oil has fallen to levels not seen since before the Iran war as traffic through the key Strait of Hormuz shipping route gradually resumes.
Global benchmark Brent crude briefly fell below $72.48 (£55) a barrel, the price it was at the day before the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on 28 February, before edging up to $73.23.
Energy prices have been on a wild ride since Iran responded to the strikes by effectively closing the strait, a critical waterway for oil and gas shipments.
The cost of crude has been moving sharply lower since the US and Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 17 June which set out a 60-day period for negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear programme and other measures to end the war.
Representatives from the two sides met in Switzerland last weekend for talks to end the war, which resulted in the US partially lifting sanctions on Iranian oil exports.
The number of vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz has risen significantly since the MOU was signed, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler.
Its latest data suggests 284 vessels have made the transit from 18 June, the day after the deal was signed, although that is is still well below the pre-conflict average of some 138 crossings each day.
The ships passing through the waterway in recent days include those carrying crude oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), fertiliser and other goods, Kpler told the BBC.
The US and Iran had also formed a “communication line” to prevent misunderstandings “with the aim of safe passage for commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz”, mediators Qatar and Pakistan said in a joint statement on Monday.
There has been a “tremendous shift” with far more ships using the strait in recent days, said Dimitris Maniatis, the chief executive of Marisks, a maritime risk advisory firm working with ships stuck in the region.
A limited number of ships can cross a northern passageway with the permission of Iranian authorities, he said.
The US navy has also provided guidance for vessels to travel through a southern route that is safe from mines and other obstacles that has been laid out since the war, Maniatis said.
But the number of ships crossing the strait is still below levels seen before the war, when it was used by more than 100 ships a day.
Hundreds of ships still appear to be waiting in the Gulf.
Fuel prices at the pump rose sharply when the Iran war began, and now the focus is on how quickly they will fall.
“On the back of the lowest oil price since before the Iran war started, drivers should see the average price of petrol fall below 150p [a litre] in the next week or so,” said Simon Williams, head of policy at UK motoring group the RAC. He added the price of diesel “ought to go back under 160p.
Petrol peaked at 159.53p a litre on 28 May, according to the RAC, while diesel has fallen from a high of 191.54p on 15 April.
The average price of regular gasoline in the US has dropped to around $3.93 a gallon after reaching $4 a gallon in April, its highest since 2022, but is still well above pre-war levels.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered an investigation into major energy companies, accusing Shell, ExxonMobil and other firms of “gouging” drivers by not reducing fuel prices even as oil costs fell.
“Oil prices have come down so much and we are not seeing anything at the pump by comparison the way they should be,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
The American Petroleum Institute, which represents the oil and gas industry in the US, said fuel prices “don’t move in lockstep with crude oil”.
British energy firms have faced similar accusations of unfairly hiking petrol prices since the Iran war.
The UK competition watchdog said last month that there was no widespread evidence of this, adding that average profit margins were “broadly unchanged” between February and March
(BBC)
Representatives from the ’The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce’ met with Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya on Wednesday [24th of June] at the Parliament premises.
During the meeting, discussions focused on the Sri Lanka Economic and Investment Summit 2026 (SLEIS 2026), which is scheduled to be held on 12 and 13 October 2026. Attention was also given to digitalization initiatives, the introduction of digital technologies in schools under new education reforms, and the transformative role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Sri Lanka’s education sector.
Representatives of the Chamber noted that the summit would serve as an important platform for encouraging both local and foreign investment, while also contributing to the shaping of the country’s future economic policies.
The meeting was attended by Krishan Balendra, Chairman of The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce; Vinod Hirdaramani, Deputy Vice Chairman; Shiran Fernando, Secretary General and Chief Executive Officer; Aliki Perera, Deputy Secretary General and Chief Operating Officer; and Anagi Rodrigo-Weerasekera, Chief Economist and Head of Economic Intelligence, along with several other representatives.
[Prime Minister’s Media Division]
A discussion to review the progress of the housing project under which 4,700 houses are being constructed for the Malayagam community with Indian assistance was held this afternoon (24) at the Presidential Secretariat under the chairmanship of the Chief of Staff to the President, Prabath Chandrakeerthi.
Under this housing programme, 2,026 houses are to be provided to families identified by the National Building Research Institute (NBRI) as being at disaster risk. The remaining houses are expected to be allocated to eligible workers residing in the plantation sector.
Accordingly, the houses will be provided to Malayagam community families living on estates belonging to 22 Regional Plantation Companies, as well as estates under the State Plantations Corporation, Janawasama and Elkaduwa Plantations.
For the construction of each house, the Government of India has allocated Rs. 2.8 million, while the Government of Sri Lanka has contributed Rs. 400,000.
During the discussion, Chandrakeerthi instructed officials to ensure that the housing project is completed before the end of this year. He further directed that land identified for the construction of houses be released without delay and that the National Building Research Institute provide the necessary reports to identify suitable land for the project.
The housing project is being implemented jointly by the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure, the National Housing Development Authority, the State Engineering Corporation and the Plantation Human Development Trust.
Among those present were Additional Secretary (Development) of the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure, K. S. Wijayakeerthi; Director General (Engineering), N. D. N. Pushpakumara; Director General (Planning), W. A. K. S. Damayanthi; the Secretary General of the Planters’ Association; and officials from the National Housing Development Authority, the State Engineering Corporation, relevant institutions and plantation companies.
(PMD)
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