Category: News

Sri Lanka to raise duty-free allowance for migrant workers to encourage remittance

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Sri Lanka to raise duty-free allowance for migrant workers to encourage remittance COLOMBO, April 3 (Xinhua) — Sri Lanka is set to increase duty-free allowances for migrant workers at the airport starting May in order to encourage remittance, Minister of Labor and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara said on Monday. The increase will be based on the amount of money remitted by the workers, Nanayakkara said during a media briefing. Under the new scheme, there will be five categories of concessions. For people having remitted 2,400-4,799, 4,800-7,199, 7,200-11,999, 12,000-23,999 and 24,000…

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CPA Statement on the Anti-Terrorism Bill – 2023

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CPA Statement on the Anti-Terrorism Bill – 2023 The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) observes that the Government published an ‘Anti – Terrorism Bill’ in the Gazette, on the 22nd of March 2023. This Bill seeks to abolish the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and introduce an Anti-Terrorism Act. Such legal reforms must be studied in the context of the abuse of the PTA and Emergency Powers carried out by consecutive Presidential regimes, with the present draft providing broad powers to the executive with limited checks and balances. CPA notes that…

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Tourist arrivals top 100,000 in March marking historic hat-trick post-2019

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Tourist arrivals top 100,000 in March marking historic hat-trick post-2019 First 26 days of March draw 105,714 tourists, pushing Q1 arrivals to 315,898  Russia leads as top market with 22,038, followed by India, UK, Germany and US Tourism Minister Harin Fernando applauds industry stakeholders’ efforts for strong comeback in 2023 By Charumini de Silva With arrivals surpassing the 100,000 mark in the first 26 days of March, Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has welcomed over 300,000 visitors in the first quarter, starting 2023 on a positive note. This is also the…

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McKinsey mantra for Sri Lanka

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McKinsey mantra for Sri Lanka McKinsey Senior Partner Chair of Insights and Ecosystems Sven Smit moots likely Indian century ahead and says strategically located Sri Lanka stands to gain  Describes Sri Lanka’s potential as solid and this could be realised with right strategies, competence and competitiveness and make Sri Lanka grows better and bigger than it had in the past Stresses Sri Lanka must find its own positioning in the region and globally By Nisthar Cassim Renowned global management consulting firm McKinsey is urging Sri Lanka to use the strategic…

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Sri Lanka to seek competitive bids for state asset sales

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Sri Lanka to seek competitive bids for state asset sales ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka will adopt a competitive bidding process for asset sales and will shortly call for expressions of interest from transaction advisors to support the divestment program, the head of the state enterprise re-structuring unit Suresh Shah said. All assets will be sold through a competitive bidding process and no unsolicited bids will be accepted. The first step will be to select transaction advisors. “We will work with development financial institutions and qualified and experienced consultancy firms to…

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Karaikal-KKS ferry service to commence on 29 April

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Karaikal-KKS ferry service to commence on 29 April Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation, Nimal Siripala de Silva said the first ferry line, of the new ferry service, to be operated between Karaikal Port in Puducherry, India and Kankesanturai (KKS), is scheduled to call at the KKS Port on 29 April.  The Minister disclosed this information at a discussion, with the stakeholders of this new ferry service, held recently at the Ministry. A passenger terminal was built at the KKS Port as part of infrastructure development for the new ferry…

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Why Sri Lanka could be the IMF’s most spectacular failure

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Why Sri Lanka could be the IMF’s most spectacular failure (Following is the excerpts of Dyan Jeyathilake’s article in the Sri Lanka Finacial Times of 16th March 2023) Much of the discussion in and on Sri Lanka has either been a shrieking chorus of ‘Go to the IMF yesterday!’ coming mainly from the rightwing economists of the main Opposition, the SJB, or a no less shrill chorus of ‘beware the IMF!’ from the Oppositional left. My own ‘third position’ is different. It stands on two legs: ‘beware Ranil plus the…

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Govt. agencies’ failure to hold the LG polls: SC grants leave to proceed with petition

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Govt. agencies’ failure to hold the LG polls: SC grants leave to proceed with petition Supreme Court today granted leave to proceed with a Fundamental Rights petition filed challenging the failure and refusal of several government departments to take the necessary steps to hold the Local Government Elections. Supreme Court three-judge-bench comprising Justices Preethi Padman Surasena, Gamini Amerasekera and Janak De Silva granted leave to proceed with the petition under Articles 10, 12(1) and 14(1)(a) of the constitution.  The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) and its Executive Director Dr. Paikiasothy…

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President writes open letter to bilateral creditors with appeals and assurances

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President writes open letter to bilateral creditors with appeals and assurances Letter with clarifications aimed at providing comfort to all and enable SL to progress swiftly to next stage of the debt treatment negotiations Reiterates he is committed to stay the course, and says SL relies on creditors to do the right thing Woos all to maintain and even enlarge and strengthen official bilateral creditor coordination Says new era starts with full implementation of IMF-supported program and resolution of debt situation Commits to transparency and assures SL will not make any…

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IMF urged Anti-Corruption Bill gets Cabinet approval

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IMF urged Anti-Corruption Bill gets Cabinet approval (FT 15-03-2023) After years of long pursuit, the Anti-Corruption Bill ‒ a landmark piece of legislation defining measures to reduce corruption and vulnerabilities by improving fiscal transparency and public financial management was finally approved by the Cabinet of Ministers Monday to proceed with the next steps. The move is a result of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package, amidst the ongoing economic crisis. Such a Bill was long overdue and should have ideally come as a result of…

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