Category: Local News

The second review of Sri Lanka’s $2.9 billion bailout with the IMF could be completed in the first half of 2024, provided it manages to meet debt restructuring and revenue targets set under the programme, an official said on Wednesday.

The third reading of the 2024 Budget was passed with amendments in Parliament of Sri Lanka today (December 13) with a majority of 41 votes.

A delegation led by the Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Paul Stephens met Defence Secretary of Sri Lanka, General Kamal Gunaratne at the Defence Headquarters Complex of Sri Lanka in Sri Jayewardenepura, Kotte on Tuesday (December 12) and had a cordial  discussion.

Sri Lanka currently imports most of its energy needs, including oil, coal and hydrocarbons. To ease the economic burden, the island nation aims to generate 70% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said its executive board cleared the first review of Sri Lanka’s about $3 billion bailout on Tuesday, providing about $337 million in funds to help tackle the fallout from the country’s worst financial crisis in decades.

Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe has assured that the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will approve the second tranche of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme for Sri Lanka today (December 12).

Proactive measures are being implemented to modernize the agricultural sector in Sri Lanka with the aim of attracting the youth community to agriculture, Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industries Mahinda Amaraweera said.

Sri Lanka Government has granted approval for a proposal seeking to enter into a Power Purchase Agreement with United Solar Group in Australia.

Senior officials of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) met the Sri Lankan Defence Secretary General Kamal Gunaratne on Monday (December 11) at the Defence Ministry in Sri Jayawardenepura, Kotte.

The Third Reading of the VAT (amendment) Bill was passed in Parliament of Sri Lanka with a majority of 45 votes.

A total of 80,222 dengue patients have been reported so far in 2023 in Sri Lanka, the National Dengue Control Unit said.

The proposal to debate the VAT (amendment) Bill was passed in Parliament of Sri Lanka this morning (December 11) by a majority of 51 votes, after 92 MPs voted in favour and 41 voted against, while one MP abstained.

Sri Lankan migrant workers have remitted 5.4 billion U.S. dollars in the first 11 months of 2023, the latest data released by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has shown.

Countrywide power failure has occurred in Sri Lanka this evening (December 09) due to a system breakdown in the main supply line, a senior Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) official said.

The proposed Electricity Bill will not be tabled in Parliament of Sri Lanka on December 13, 2023 but in January 2024, Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera said.

A stock of ‘Kush’ cannabis, estimated to have a street value of around Rs. 100 million, have been taken into custody by the officers of Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake.