News
‘Towards Sri Lanka’s Recovery: Green Resilient and Inclusive Development’
Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka World Bank Country Director Mr. Faris H. Hadad-Zervos congratulated the government on securing the International Monetary Fund Extended Fund Facility, the parliamentary approval of the Domestic Debt Restructuring, and securing international financial support from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
He made these observations while addressing the topic: ‘Towards Sri Lanka’s Recovery: Green Resilient and Inclusive Development’ at the Press Club Event hosted by the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) held at ‘The Blue’ of the Hilton Colombo on Tuesday, July 18, 2023.
The event commenced with the welcome address delivered by Senior Board Member of the SLPI Mr. Manik De Silva. The event was moderated by Business Editor of The Sunday Times, Mr. Feizal Samath.
During his speech Hadad- Zervos stated that the government has committed to an ambitious reform agenda and implemented some difficult and necessary reforms, including tax reforms, cost-reflective utility pricing, a stronger social safety net, and debt restructuring to stabilize the economy.
He stated that there have been some signs of stability in the past few months compared to 2022. Inflation is trending downwards from 69.8% in September 2022 to 12% in June 2023. Market interest rates are also declining as the uncertainty over domestic debt restructuring wanes and the foreign exchange liquidity picture has also improved.
Hadad- Zervos said, “We estimate that poverty doubled from 13.1 to 25 percent between 2021 and 2022—an addition of 2.5 million poor people—and we expect this to increase by another 2.4 percent in 2023. Many more people are just one shock away from poverty. We estimate that 5.7 percent of the population lives less than 10 percent above the poverty line, and a further 5.6 percent between 10 and 20 percent above the poverty line. This dramatic increase in poverty and vulnerability has wiped-out decades-long human capital gains. For example, there is now a serious learning crisis in the country. Only 14% of Grade 3 students have acquired minimum competency in literacy and only 15% in numeracy”
He stated that the World Bank Group’s new Country Partnership Framework and US$700 million financing support through the RESET DPO and the Social Protection project is our commitment to the Sri Lankan people at this difficult time. In response to both COVID-19 and the economic crisis, the World Bank repurposed significant undisbursed funds from its existing portfolio to sustain institutions so they could continue to provide essential goods and services, protect the vulnerable, support livelihoods, and address food insecurity.
The PRESS CLUB is envisaged to be a place where media-related events concerning visiting dignitaries and local personalities on current topics of national and international interest take place. The Press Club functions under the SLPI whose constituent partners are the Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka (NSSL), The Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka (TEGOSL), the Free Media Movement (FMM), the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA) with its affiliated partners Federation of Media Employees Trade Union (FMETU), Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum (MMF), Tamil Media Alliance (TMA), and South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA).
The event was attended by journalists, diplomats and experts.
Three newly appointed foreign Ambassadors to Sri Lanka presented credentials to President Anura Kumara Disanayake today (24) at the Presidential Secretariat.
The newly appointed Ambassadors represent France, State of Palestine and Nepal. Accordingly:
- His Excellency Remi Lambert has been appointed as the Ambassador of France
- His Excellency Ihab I.M. Khalil as the Ambassador of State of Palestine
- His Excellency Dr. Purna Bahadur Nepali as the Ambassador of Nepal
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Vijitha Herath, along with Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, were also present at the occasion.
State coffers suffered huge losses
A probe conducted by the Auditor General’s Department and the Parliamentary watchdog committee, COPA (Committee on Public Accounts) has revealed that a large number of luxury cars and SUVs have been imported with the help of forged documents that declared them as tractors.
During a recent COPA investigation into the Department of Motor Traffic (DMT), it was disclosed that the files related to the registration of those vehicles had gone missing.
COPA Chairman Aravinda Senaratne pointed out that BMWs and Mercedes-Benz cars had been declared as tractors. A total of 158 such cases had been specifically identified, the COPA said.
At the last COPA meeting, the DMT was instructed to provide details regarding those instances, but the Department has not yet done so. Some officials had already been identified and charged with the fraudulent registration of vehicles, Senaratne said.
“Wrong information about these vehicles has been entered deliberately. Their years of manufacture have been altered. According to our records, whenever an issue is raised, officials claim that the relevant files are missing,” Senaratne stated.
Current Commissioner General of the DMT, Nishantha Weerasinghe, said that those incidents had occurred before he assumed office.
Former DMT Commissioner General Sumith Alahakoon revealed that he had lodged two complaints with the CID. “When I took office, there were about 12 container loads of files flagged for errors. Out of those, 118 files were recovered by internal auditors and submitted to the CID. Thereafter, I was removed from my post,” he said.
The COPA Chairman accused the current DMT Commissioner General and his officials of failing to follow up on the complaints lodged with the CID by his predecessor.
When asked about action taken against the prime suspect in the fraud involving the luxury cars imported as tractors, the current Commissioner General said the suspect had been released due to insufficient evidence. A system analyst had been interdicted as investigators found that the database contained wrong information about vehicle imports.
COPA member MP Chandana Sooriyarachchi remarked that COPA investigations would be meaningless if officials sought to absolve themselves of responsibility simply by claiming that files had gone missing.
Sooriyarachchi said such fraudulent actions had cost the state coffers billions of rupees.The COPA Chairman said all aspects of the case would be thoroughly investigated.
by Saman Indrajith
SLMC General Secretary Nizam Kariapper, MP, yesterday (23) said that the National People’s Power (NPP) government owed an explanation as to why it continued to ignore indiscriminate Israeli attacks on Gaza.
Parliamentarian Kariapper pointed out that a statement, dated March 21, issued by Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Ministry, while expressing deep concern over the deteriorating conditions in Gaza, requested all sides to avoid any action that would lead to further escalation of the situation.
The government statement conveniently failed to mention that Israel killed over 400 civilians and launched a fresh ground offensive in Gaza regardless of the ceasefire in place, lawmaker Kariapper said. The top SLMC official accused the NPP government of remaining silent on US approved slaughter of civilians taking place.
“The majority of victims in the Gaza war were women and children,” MP Kariapper said. If the NPP government lacked the strength to issue a statement that properly dealt with the ground situation, Sri Lanka should have refrained from commenting on the latest developments.
The SJB National List MP said that the Jewish State also launched operations in Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon as it sought to exploit the situation to its advantage.
MP Kariapper urged the government to take a principled stand on Israeli military action that so far claimed the lives of over 60,000 people since late 2023.
Israel launched large-scale offensive action after Hamas terrorists killed over 1,200 Israeli civilians in raids carried out in early Oct 2023. Hamas abducted a large number of Israelis and a section of them have been released so far.
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