city Colombo: Latest News

Bloomberg:  Sri Lanka’s bailout by the International Monetary Fund will help the bankrupt nation lower its borrowing costs, thanks in part to a change in how the cash can be used, central bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said, reported Bloomber.

Sri Lanka was expecting its long-standing ties with Saudi Arabia to grow stronger, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said on Monday, after meeting with a delegation from the Saudi Fund for Development.Sabry hosted the Saudi delegation led by Mohammed Almasoud, the SFD’s director of central and west Asia operations, in the capital Colombo and said Sri Lanka was grateful for the fund’s “continuous assistance despite challenges” as well its support on an extension of an International Monetary Fund loan.“The longstanding Sri Lanka-Saudi bilateral relationship will grow from strength to strength,” Sabry said in a tweet.The minister visited the Kingdom last month, discussing with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan ways to boost economic and energy cooperation between the two countries.Sabry had then presented Sri Lanka as a gateway to not only south Asia but the rest of the continent – an “ideal place” to do business. His trip followed a series of high-level engagements by Sri Lankan officials with the Kingdom last year.During Monday’s meeting, the Saudi government pledged to continue providing financial assistance for projects in Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan lawmaker Mohamed Shariff Thowfeek said after taking part in the talks.“This was a great gesture from the Saudi government at a time when some countries have stopped their aid in the midst of the economic crisis,” Thowfeek told Arab News.The SFD has given at least 15 development loans worth $425 million to Sri Lanka, which have financed various projects in water, energy, health, roads, and education.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Japan, one of Sri Lanka's main creditors, will back the South Asian nation as it seeks to restructure about $30 billion of its foreign debt and find a way out of a crippling economic crisis, Tokyo's envoy to the country said on Friday.Reaching an agreement with creditors is key to Sri Lanka securing a $2.9 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)."Japan stands by Sri Lanka in support of the debt restructuring negotiation process so that Sri Lanka can reach the final agreement with the IMF," Ambassador Hideaki Mizukoshi said in an interview.Japan holds around $3.5 billion of Sri Lanka's total bilateral debt of about $10 billion, amounting to 4.4% of the island's GDP, according to government and IMF data.Japan is also a major trading partner."Japan intends to play a constructive role with other creditor countries, including China and India," Mizukoshi said.Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis in decades, with severely depleted foreign exchange reserves leading to prolonged shortages of essentials, including fuel and food.The financial turmoil is the result of economic mismanagement and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that upended Sri Lanka's lucrative tourism industry.Although Japan will support the debt negotiation process, Mizukoshi said that talks on large infrastructure projects will only be resumed after Sri Lanka's economy recovers."In the future, when this economic crisis is over and the economic conditions are in good shape, we can restart that kind of discussion," he said.Sri Lanka suspended a $1.5 billion Japanese-funded light rail project for the commercial capital Colombo in 2020, citing financial problems.Regional rival China has built ports,

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Head of Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith on Thursday (21) said there is serious doubt as to whether the super-powerful person who obtained all powers in the country, is the reason why a proper investigation is not taking place with regard to the 2019 Easter Sunday Attacks.The Archbishop of Colombo speaking at an Easter Attacks memorial at the St. Anthony’s Shrine, Kochchikade in the capital Colombo, reiterated that one cannot be pleased with the ongoing investigations.“It is now being revealed that Islamist Extremism alone was not behind the Easter Attacks, and that is a Grand Conspiracy.

COLOMBO (News 1st); As the world watches in disbelief as the Sri Lankan economy slips from bad to worse at the rate of knots, ordinary young Sri Lankans facing the worst of the crisis have come up with one of the most peaceful, creative ways to protest in recent times. Mostly made up of Gen-Z youth, the protestors have over the past week created a township right in front of the President’s Office, in the middle of the bustling Colombo City.The town, now called ‘Gota-go-Gama’ (which incorporates the main slogan used by protestors and the word gama, which means village in Sinhalese) now functions with working toilets, phone charging points, entertainment, a shop, and even a library.

COLOMBO (News 1st): The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has commenced discussions to integrate the power generated through stand-by generators owned by Private and Public sector institutions into the National Grid.“The generators owned by Private and Public sector institutions are only used during power outages or sudden breakdowns. These generators are capable of generating around 2,000 MW of power, and given the prevailing crisis, these resources could be integrated into the National Grid to address the issue,” Janaka Ratnayake, the Chairman of the PUCSL told News 1st on Wednesday (Jan.

COLOMBO (News 1st); Three dead bodies were discovered from three separate locations in Colombo City on Monday (10).An unidentified body of a male was discovered on the Wellawatte Beach on Monday (10) morning.Police said the deceased may be between the ages of 40 & 55 years and is yet to be identified.The body was moved to the Kalubowila Hospital morgue while the Wellawatte Police launched an investigation.At the same time, another unidentified body of a male was discovered on the Bambalapitiya Beach on Monday (10) morning.Police said the deceased may be between the ages of 40 & 50 years and is yet to be identified.The body was moved to the Kalubowila Hospital morgue while the Bambalapitiya Police launched an investigation.Meanwhile, the body of a 56-year-old man who was reported missing since Sunday (9) night was found under a bridge close to the Kolonnawa Oil Storage Complex.The deceased was identified as a resident of Wellampitiya.

COLOMBO – As couples do all over the world, Darshana Kumara Wijenarayana and his fiance, Pawani Rasanga, spent months planning a grand wedding.