Year: 2021

Chemical fertiliser ban reversed?

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Chemical fertiliser ban reversed? Agriculture Ministry Secy. says chemical fertilisers will be imported Mahindananda claims no decision to import chemical for paddy, vegetables Shasheendra says 100% organic not possible in one season SJB claims chemical fertiliser ban now reversed By Buddhika Samaraweera- The Morning 22-11-2021 Ministry of Agriculture Secretary Prof. Udith K. Jayasinghe-Mudalige stated yesterday (21) that steps will be taken to re-import standardised, second-generation chemical fertilisers, agrochemicals, and essential plant nutrients required for paddy, maize, vegetables, and other plantation crops, which, if implemented, would appear to signal an abandonment…

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Confectionery exporters look to relocate overseas

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Confectionery exporters look to relocate overseas Exploring locations favourable and competitive for production Claim export orders in jeopardy as local manufacturing becomes expensive Looking at opportunities to outsource manufacturing or set up plants in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh $ 200 m industry warns shift will result over 550,000 people losing jobs and livelihood Say doing business not conducive to investors; if no proactive measures taken to protect remaining exports, economy will suffer  Companies likely to stop most production lines due to supply constraints of raw materials By Charumini de…

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Some observations on Budget 2022

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Some observations on Budget 2022 Dissecting the mixed opinions on Budget 2022 By Sumudu Chamara – The Morning On 12 November, the Government presented what, in economic terms, can be referred to as a recovery Budget, in a context where the country has just started paying attention to and supporting the revival of sectors that did not receive adequate attention last year.  In other words, unlike in the pre-Covid-19 pandemic era, this Budget is expected to ease the economic burden on almost all segments of the society, not only a…

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700 K government officers threaten TU action over salaries

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700 K government officers threaten TU action over salaries Demand Rs. 18 K salary hike for public servants Two-week written ultimatum sent to Prez, PM, Basil BY Buddhika Samaraweera (The Morning 17-11-2021) The Sri Lanka Government Officers’ Trade Union Association (SLGOTUA) has warned that if there is no positive response from the Government to their request to increase the salaries of public servants as a remedy to the rising cost of living (CoL), more than 700,000 public servants will inevitably go on a trade union action after 27 November. The…

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Lankans lining up to migrate

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Lankans lining up to migrate (Daily FT 17-11-2021) Survey reveals reasons linked to dissatisfaction with COVID strategy and economic prospects, but Opposition failing to benefit A new survey shows that increasing numbers of Sri Lankans want to leave the country, probably more than at any time in the past five years.  The findings were released yesterday by compiler of the survey the Institute for Health Policy (IHP) via the Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS) that was launched to assess public opinion as the country recovers from COVID-19. IHP said…

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Guidelines to be followed from Nov. 16 to 30 issued

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Guidelines to be followed from Nov. 16 to 30 issued; public gatherings banned (Sheain Fernandopulle Daily Mirror 15th Nov 2021) Director General of Health Services Dr Asela Gunawardena has issued a set of guidelines effective from November 16 to 30 on public & work-related activities where several restrictions have been eased. According to the guidelines, public gatherings, meeting & events are prohibited until further notice unless prior approval is obtained from Director General of Health Services. In addition, several restrictions have been eased. Accordingly, gyms can be operated at 50…

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New Constitution needs to reflect Sri Lanka’s plurality

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New Constitution needs to reflect Sri Lanka’s plurality by Jehan Perera (The Island 16th November2021) Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has informed Parliament that the draft constitution will be finalised by the end of the year. An expert committee to draft a new constitution was appointed in September last year, soon after the government won the general election with close to a 2/3 majority. In his inaugural address to the newly elected Parliament, on August 20, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced that the government would replace the existing constitution and do away…

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A strategy for leftists and nationalists

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A strategy for leftists and nationalists by Uditha Devapriya- The Island Since at least 1977, nationalists and leftists have constantly been defining themselves against one another. The key years in which this gulf widened would be 1980 (the July strike), 1982 (the presidential election), 1983 (the anti-Tamil pogrom and the proscription of the Left), and 1987 (the Indo-Lanka Accord). What we see in those years is a middle-class abandoning the Left: partly on account of an ideological turnaround, but also, more crucially, on account of the different trajectories such ideologies…

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Emirates announces 2 more flights to CMB a week from today

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Emirates announces 2 more flights to CMB a week from today Emirates announced its operation of two additional flights a week to Colombo from today (15) to support the resurgence of Sri Lanka’s tourism industry as more key source markets relax travel restrictions. The award-winning Dubai-based global airline said the added frequencies will increase direct flights between Dubai and Colombo to 14 a week, taking Emirates’ weekly schedule to Sri Lanka’s commercial capital to 21 flights a week, with the daily flight between Colombo and Male. Effective today, Emirates flight…

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Sri Lanka budget 2022: key tax changes

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Sri Lanka budget 2022: key tax changes ECONOMYNEXT  (13-11-2021) Sri Lanka’s budget for 2022 has proposed new taxes after a value added tax cut in 2019 for ‘fiscal stimulus’ devastated state revenues, triggering money printing which has resulted in a balance of payments crisis. The budget proposed to raise revenues from a revised 1,556 billion rupees in 2021 (9.4 percent of GDP) to 2,284 billion rupees (12.3 percent of GDP) in 2022. Authorities hope to bring the deficit down from 1,826 billion rupees (11.1 percent of GDP) to 1,628 billion…

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