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With the aim of further elevating China –Sri Lanka strategic economic and defence cooperation, a high level Chinese official will be visiting the island this month amidst current American and Indian prominence in the region.  

China’s Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe will arrive in Sri Lanka later this month to hold bilateral discussions with Government leaders and officials, making it one of the highest level visits undertaken by a Chinese government official since the Rajapaksa government was sworn into power.

According to informed sources at the Foreign Ministry, the final dates of General Wei’s arrival are yet to be received but the visit is confirmed to take place after the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.

During his visit, Wei will hold discussions with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and other leading government officials. This is the second highest visit to be undertaken by a Chinese official to Sri Lanka following senior Chinese diplomat, Yang Jiechi’s visit in October.

Meanwhile, dates are being finalised for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s visit to Beijing following a fresh invitation extended by President Xi Jinping during recent discussion held between the two leaders earlier this month, sources said.

President Rajapaksa had assured his Chinese counterpart he would undertake a formal visit as soon as the travel restrictions ease due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the visit is likely to take place some time next month.

The Sri Lanka government is seeking support from multiple sources including Oman to manage Sri Lanka’s upcoming debt repayments and reiterated commitment to meeting its obligations even as reserves slipped to USD 4.1 billion at the end of March.

The rupee has also been subject to persistent depreciation, caused partly by dollar demand for imports ahead of the festive season, according to analysts, with the LKR reaching the 203.59 mark on Friday (09).

State Minister of Finance Ajith Nivard Cabraal is in Oman with a delegation to discuss potential forex assistance from the Bank of Muscat. Government officials are also engaged in talks with Bangladesh.

The overtures come after Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa visited Bangladesh last month and met with the Governor of Bangladesh Bank, which functions as their Central Bank.

Central Bank Governor Prof. Lakshman on Thursday (08) said they were awaiting confirmation from the China Development Bank (CDB) for a long-delayed loan of about USD 700 million.

The government has been in negotiations with CDB since last year when it approved a USD 500 million loan to prop-up reserves.

Sri Lanka has two large debt repayments in May and July with the former expected to be about USD 720 million and the latter, USD 1 billion.

Recently, the Central Bank entered into a bilateral currency swap arrangement with the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) amounting to CNY 10 billion (equivalent to approximately USD 1.5 billion). But since it’s a local currency swap, it is unlikely to reduce pressure on the rupee, according to experts.  

“Although the rupee experienced some volatility recently, the continuation of the existing restrictions on non-essential imports and certain foreign exchange outflows, among others, is expected to help cushion pressures in the domestic foreign exchange market,” the Central Bank said in its latest monetary policy review.  

The Governor emphasised that the Central Bank's involvement in the currency market has been minimal with its role largely limited to instructing banks.

Gross official reserves were estimated at USD 4.1 billion (excluding the swap facility with the PBOC), with an import cover of three months, at the end of March.

Celebrating 75 years of India’s independence in Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan children from care homes converged in Colombo from all across Sri Lanka over 10-11 April 2021 for the final round of the nationwide painting competition organized by Colombo Expatriates Cultural Association (CECA) - a voluntary organization of expatriates consisting of mainly Indians - with support of the High Commission of India, Ministry of Education of Government of Sri Lanka and several other partners.

Education Minister Prof. G.L Peiris and Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay graced the occasion as the Chief Guest and the Guest of Honour respectively at the final round.

Several other dignitaries including State Minister Piyal Nishantha were also present.  The dignitaries lauded the effort as a shining example of strong people-to-people ties between India and Sri Lanka and stressed the enormous significance of the enriching experience for the children.

 The competition was held in three categories – Sub Junior, Junior and Senior. The first round of the competition had seen enthusiastic participation of 4,375 students from child care homes across Sri Lanka. Contestants from all provinces who had produced sixty best paintings were invited along with one care-giver for the final round held in Colombo on 10 April at Hotel Taj Samudra.

While the top three winners in all the three categories were awarded SLR 100,000, SLR 75,000 and SLR 50,000 respectively in addition to various other gifts, certificates and medals, all the 60 finalists received cash awards, desktop computers, and other gifts contributed by various sponsors.

The event also formed part of ‘India @ 75’ celebrations in Sri Lanka which comprised events and activities in the run up to completion of 75 years of India’s Independence in August 2022.  

Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi had launched these celebrations in India on 12 March 2021, 75 weeks before the 75th Anniversary of Independence.

In Sri Lanka, formal launch of these celebrations took place on 9 April 2021 with the inauguration of ‘India Corner’ at the Nagananda Institute for Buddhist Studies.

A 3-day exploration and goodwill visit to Eastern Province by Senior Buddhist religious leaders, Christian priests and Muslim religious leaders facilitated by Zam Zam Foundation took place from 7th to 9th of April 2021 covering Pottuvil, Kattankudy and Batticaloa.

The Free Media Movement (FMM) has strongly condemned the arrest and assault of Malika Abeykoon, a freelance journalist and photographer, calling it a heinous act of the police.

Mahapola Higher Education Scholarship Trust Fund, has been involved in several malpractices in investing money of the fund without proper accountability, a parliamentary committee report revealed.

A special report submitted by the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) on the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT), established by the Mahapola Higher Education Scholarship Trust Fund, reveals that the top management of the institution has taken a series of steps to vest state resources in private ownership in an informal manner.

The report states that the government approved the establishment of the SLIIT through the Cabinet Memorandum (98/995/11/052) presented on 01 April 1988 under the Mahapola Higher Education Scholarships Trust Fund (Act No. 66 of 1981).

The government also established the Sri Lanka Information Technology Company (Limited by Guarantee) to run this institution until an Act was adopted for it.

The report points out that the Mahapola Higher Education Scholarships Trust Fund has given Rs. 500 million and its 25-acre land situated in Malabe as initial capital of the Sri Lanka Information technology Company.

The committee says that the Mahapola Higher Education Scholarships Trust Fund and the Company decided to appoint three persons of the University of Moratuwa, two persons from the Ministry of International Commerce and Food, Chairman of the Board of Investment (BOI) and the Chairman of the Export Development Board (EDB) to the Board of Directors of the company.

“Out of the members appointed to the original Board of Directors of the SLIT Company representing the respective institutions as aforesaid, the three persons appointed from the University of Moratuwa and the then Chairman who was appointed at that time for his being the Chairman of the Board of Investment have remained in the posts of Directors uninterruptedly for over 23 years up to the present time (up until the year 2021).”

It concludes that during the yahapalana administration, four agreements were entered into by the SLIT Company and the Mahapola Higher Education Scholarships Trust Fund and through these there was an attempt to remove Mahapola Higher Education Scholarships Trust Fund from the ownership of the SLIT.

The government’s move to establish revenue collection authority has come to light with the recent decision to set up a separate unit to handle special Goods and Services Tax (GST) amidst protests of Inland Revenue Department executives and other staff officials. 

Leaders of eleven parties of the ruling government coalition have agreed to meet Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and make a decision on the upcoming provincial council election. The party leaders met the Sri Lanka Freedom Party headquarters yesterday (08) under the patronage of former President Maithripala Sirisena.

The meeting between the party leaders and the Prime Minister is scheduled to be held on April 19.

SLFP General Secretary State Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera, National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Minister Wimal Weerawansa, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Udaya Gammanpila, DEW Gunesekera, Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thero and Gevindu Kumaratunga took part in the discussions yesterday.

These eleven party leaders first came together to oppose the government's move to hand over the Eastern Container Terminal of the Colombo Port to an Indian company and have met once a month at their respective party headquarters since then.

This is the first time that former President Maithripala Sirisena has joined the discussions. Prior to this, State Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara was the sole representative of the SLFP at these meetings.

At yesterday's meeting, the leaders have not discussed the possibility of conducting separate May Day rallies. However, the Wimal Weerawansa faction hopes to reach an agreement with the Prime Minister in this regard as well.

We will not allow to break this coalition and build another : SLFP General Secretary

Meanwhile, SLFP General Secretary, State MInister Dayasiri Jayasekera said that neither the SLFP nor any other party of the ruling alliance has a need to splinter the SLPP led government coalition and form a new one.

Jayasekera expressed these views at a media briefing held in Colombo recently.

The SLFP General Secretary stressed that there was no truth to the claims that several parties representing the ruling alliance were engaged in discussions to form a separate alliance.

State Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara emphasised that no one wanted to break the current alliance, adding that representatives of around ten parties met and conducted several rounds of discussions in the recent past on certain issues. He reiterated that this should not be viewed as an attempt to break the alliance but as a process that would actually help to strengthen the government.

He further said that their objective is to do what is right by the 6.9 million voters and not to cause any inconvenience to the government.

A luxury apartment complex ‘Kingdom Sigiriya’ is now being constructed in close proximity to the Sigiriya world heritage site and the prehistoric Potana cave site amidst concerns of residents, environmentalists and archaeologists.

The United States yesterday called on policymakers to be vigilant of the economic impact of the proposed Port City legislation, given its sweeping tax concessions and warned it could have “unintended consequences”, such as money laundering, unless proper safeguards are put in place.