Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka must start agricultural modernization in 2023 to feed its growing population and become a net exporter of food, the President's Media Division (PMD) said on Wednesday.

Wickremesinghe made the statement at a meeting of the Multi-Sector Combined Committee to ensure food security and nutrition.

He said agriculture can earn foreign exchange by enhancing production and competitiveness through the modernization of agriculture.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The United States on Saturday announced $40 million in aid to buy fertilizer and other key agricultural inputs in time for the next cultivation season in crisis-hit Sri Lanka.

USAID Administrator Samantha Power, who is visiting Sri Lanka, made the announcement after she met farmer representatives in Ja-Ela outside the capital, Colombo. She said the money will be in addition to the $6 million announced earlier to assist low income farmers.

COLOMBO, Sept 8 (NNN-XINHUA) – Thirty-seven state ministers were sworn in by President Ranil Wickremesinghe today.

The President’s Office said that, the state ministers took oaths at the Presidential Secretariat, in the capital, Colombo. Among those sworn in, Shehan Semasinghe was sworn in as state minister of finance, Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon, as state minister of defence, Tharaka Balasuriya as state minister of foreign affairs.

The state ministers will assume duty soon, officials said.

COLOMBO, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday said that his government aimed to further strengthen ties with Britain, particularly in the context of Global Britain and the UK's new Platinum Partnership scheme with the Commonwealth family of nations, after Elizabeth Truss was appointed as the new British prime minister.

A statement released by the President's Office said Wickremesinghe appreciated Sri Lanka's inclusion as a beneficiary country in the recently announced Developing Country Trading Scheme of the UK.

COLOMBO, Sept 3 (NNN-XINHUA) – Sri Lanka’s parliament, yesterday passed an interim budget with 120 votes for, five votes against and 43 abstentions.

The members of parliament (MPs), who abstained from voting, included those from the main opposition party, Samagi Jana Balawegaya, and a group of MPs, who have broken away from the ruling party, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).

The interim budget was presented to Parliament on Aug 30, by President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s former president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country in July after tens of thousands of protesters stormed his home and office in a display of anger over the country’s economic crisis, has returned to the country after seven weeks.

COLOMBO, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's parliament on Friday passed an interim budget with 120 votes for, five votes against and 43 abstentions.

The members of parliament (MPs) who abstained from voting included those from the main opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya, and a group of MPs who have broken away from the ruling party Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).

The interim budget was presented to Parliament on August 30 by President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The International Monetary Fund announced Thursday it has reached a preliminary agreement to provide Sri Lanka with $2.9 billion over four years to help it recover from its worst economic crisis.

The arrangement will help restore financial and macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability as well as enable the country’s growth potential, an IMF team visiting Sri Lanka said in a statement.

COLOMBO, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan government has decided to establish a State-Owned Enterprise Restructuring Unit to help with the restructuring of state-owned enterprises, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Tuesday while presenting the Interim Budget 2022 in the parliament.

Wickremesinghe said about 556,000 U.S. dollars have been allocated to implement the unit establishment proposal.

COLOMBO, Aug 29 (NNN-XINHUA) – Twenty-four companies from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, the United States, China, India, Russia, Britain, Malaysia, Norway, and the Philippines, are interested in the petroleum business in Sri Lanka, a government official said.

Sri Lankan Minister of Power and Energy, Kanchana Wijesekera said last nigh that, his ministry has appointed a committee to evaluate the expressions of interest (EOIs) submitted by the foreign firms, which will finalise the process within six weeks.