without frills naked truth is
1-total mismanagement
2- currency expected to depreciate
3- further chaos expected
4- majority marginalized hence nation will not sustain
5-say right do left, look this side go opposite side ,say one thing do another, is the policy
6-present state pseudo buoyancy is due to foreign remittances by the large work force
result is massive inflation, lack of labor in the country,essential food is out of reach for many due to uncontrolled exports of essential food.
7- unfathomable currency eg T BILL AUCTION hence the market was 7 % Central bank offer s a limited bath at 12 % to a cohort .
8- costly futile commission to cover fraud of present and costly commission to find previous frauds that has not resulted in any god to the masses eg Sri Lankan air
eg Godamunne COMMISSION- AFTER sitting Godamunne him self declared- A 3 million wast....line
9-Golden horses, Porches ,billion in accounts have not been found despite the most expensive,ruthless investigation done by US UK DUBAI SEYCHELLES detectives who were invited by.. to investigate they were seen loitering around cinnamon granad during rest hours for months now ?? ETC ETC
written by a sucked up sri lanken
Friday, 8 July 2016
Friday, 18 March 2016
US IS TALKING
Sri Lanka Field Marshall points Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as war crime villain US IS TALKING AFTER HIS TRIP TO US FINANCE BY
By Our Political Correspondent
Mar 10, 2016 19:09 PM GMT+0530 | 0 Comment(s)
ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka's former army chief Sarath Fonseka Thursday fired a broadside against the former regime and singled out its defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse as the key man responsible for war crimes.
Field Marshall Fonseka said Rajapakse was about to be court martialled in 1991 for cowardice, but had fallen at the feet of then deputy defence minister Ranjan Wijeratne and secured a discharge.
"I met him in the US and he was working as a tinker for two years. He said it was very hard work. He had no vehicle. It was a friend of mine who gave him a cycle.
"But a few days later he lost the cycle. He claimed it was stolen. So my friend said: 'Why did you not use a chain or something like that to secure the bike.' His response was that he chained the cycle to a ladder and someone had stolen both the ladder and the cycle.
“Thereafter he worked as a computer operator for about 14 years. Can a man like that command an army of 200,000. If he can, then so can all of you," Fonseka said in parliament.
Field Marshall Fonseka said Rajapakse was about to be court martialled in 1991 for cowardice, but had fallen at the feet of then deputy defence minister Ranjan Wijeratne and secured a discharge.
"I met him in the US and he was working as a tinker for two years. He said it was very hard work. He had no vehicle. It was a friend of mine who gave him a cycle.
"But a few days later he lost the cycle. He claimed it was stolen. So my friend said: 'Why did you not use a chain or something like that to secure the bike.' His response was that he chained the cycle to a ladder and someone had stolen both the ladder and the cycle.
“Thereafter he worked as a computer operator for about 14 years. Can a man like that command an army of 200,000. If he can, then so can all of you," Fonseka said in parliament.
He said the military should face an internationally-monitored war crimes investigation in order to clear its name.
Much of the alleged atrocities, including the "white flag case" was when Fonseka was away in China in the final week of the battle in May 2009, he said.
He accused Rajapakse of giving illegal orders to junior officers. “What Gotabhaya did was like adding a bit of dung after collecting a pot of milk,” Fonseka said using his parliamentary privileges to accuse Rajapaksa of responsibility for atrocities.
Fonseka countered former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's allegation that investigations and arrests of his family members was a political vendetta.
He recalled how he was thrown in jail two weeks after he challenged Rajapaksa at the January 2010 elections. He said on the same night his wife had been taken to the CID at midnight and questioned at length while his daughters were grilled at the airport. His son in law was in hiding for five years.
He accused Basil Rajapaksa of giving a two million dollar bribe to the Tamil Tiger rebels in 2005 to secure a Tamil boycott of elections that resulted in his brother winning the elections, even though with a very narrow margin.
Fonseka maintained that Rajapaksa would have lost the 2005 election if not for the boycott orchestrated by the LTTE.
He said an investigation would be launched into the bribe and he vowed to expose those who paid bribes to the Tigers.
He also defended himself against allegations that he was behind the assassination of anti-establishment editor Lasantha Wickrematunga in January 2009. He suggested it was the work of the Rajapaksas, a charge they have already denied. (COLOMBO, March 10, 2016)
Much of the alleged atrocities, including the "white flag case" was when Fonseka was away in China in the final week of the battle in May 2009, he said.
He accused Rajapakse of giving illegal orders to junior officers. “What Gotabhaya did was like adding a bit of dung after collecting a pot of milk,” Fonseka said using his parliamentary privileges to accuse Rajapaksa of responsibility for atrocities.
Fonseka countered former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's allegation that investigations and arrests of his family members was a political vendetta.
He recalled how he was thrown in jail two weeks after he challenged Rajapaksa at the January 2010 elections. He said on the same night his wife had been taken to the CID at midnight and questioned at length while his daughters were grilled at the airport. His son in law was in hiding for five years.
He accused Basil Rajapaksa of giving a two million dollar bribe to the Tamil Tiger rebels in 2005 to secure a Tamil boycott of elections that resulted in his brother winning the elections, even though with a very narrow margin.
Fonseka maintained that Rajapaksa would have lost the 2005 election if not for the boycott orchestrated by the LTTE.
He said an investigation would be launched into the bribe and he vowed to expose those who paid bribes to the Tigers.
He also defended himself against allegations that he was behind the assassination of anti-establishment editor Lasantha Wickrematunga in January 2009. He suggested it was the work of the Rajapaksas, a charge they have already denied. (COLOMBO, March 10, 2016)
Police had also brought back war-time road block MORETO COME
Sri Lanka slips back to killing fields
By Our Police Correspondent
Mar 11, 2016 15:43 PM GMT+0530 | 0 Comment(s)
ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka's police found charred bodies of five people burnt inside a white van, just north of the Bandaranaike International Airport, on Friday despite a government crackdown on gang warfare.
Police said they suspected the killings may be linked to underworld criminal gangs, but there was also speculation on whether a pro-government hit-squad was responsibile.
President Maithripala Sirisena had last week ordered the military to jointly carry out operations against the underworld, but he had added that all measures should be within the law. Police had also brought back war-time road blocks with the objective of stopping crime gangs.
In another development, a woman was shot dead by a gang which burst into her home in the Moneragala district.
Police said the bodies burnt inside the van were beyond recognition, but they traced the vehicle to a finance company in Colombo and believed the victims may have been underworld figures.
(COLOMBO, March 11, 2016)
Police said they suspected the killings may be linked to underworld criminal gangs, but there was also speculation on whether a pro-government hit-squad was responsibile.
President Maithripala Sirisena had last week ordered the military to jointly carry out operations against the underworld, but he had added that all measures should be within the law. Police had also brought back war-time road blocks with the objective of stopping crime gangs.
In another development, a woman was shot dead by a gang which burst into her home in the Moneragala district.
Police said the bodies burnt inside the van were beyond recognition, but they traced the vehicle to a finance company in Colombo and believed the victims may have been underworld figures.
(COLOMBO, March 11, 2016)
Sri Lankan shares fell on Friday
Sri Lanka shares fall from two-week high on tax, economic woes
Mar 18, 2016 17:51 PM GMT+0530 | 0 Comment(s)
COLOMBO, March 18 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan shares fell on Friday after two sessions of gains as uncertainty over a capital gains tax, higher budget deficit and economic growth weighed on investors' sentiment.
The benchmark share index was down 0.17 percent, or 10.38 points, at 6,057.79, edging down from its highest close since March 3 hit on Thursday.
Sri Lanka will raise its value-added tax and reintroduce capital gains tax to break out of a debt trap, ahead of talks on a $1.5-billion loan it is seeking from the International Monetary Fund.
As vague as before "There isn't much information on capital gains tax, though the government said it will reintroduce it. There is an uncertainty on the capital tax percentage. Investors are waiting to know more," said Prashan Fernando, COO, Acuity Stockbrokers.
Investors preferred fixed-interest-rate-bearing assets over shares due to a rise in yields on treasury bills, which are hovering at two-year highs, and on the central bank's unexpected interest rate hike in mid February, dealers said.
Sri Lanka's economy is expected to grow 5.3 percent in 2016, data from the state statistics office showed, but analysts say tight monetary and fiscal policies may curb its growth.
The $82.2-billion economy expanded at a sluggish 2.5 percent in the December quarter, down from an upwardly revised 5.6 percent in the previous quarter.
Analysts and economists worry slower growth could reduce corporate earnings of some listed firms.
Turnover stood at 919.5 million rupees ($6.3 million), more than this year's daily average of 794.1 million rupees.
Shares in Sri Lanka Telecom Plc fell 2.69 percent.
The benchmark share index was down 0.17 percent, or 10.38 points, at 6,057.79, edging down from its highest close since March 3 hit on Thursday.
Sri Lanka will raise its value-added tax and reintroduce capital gains tax to break out of a debt trap, ahead of talks on a $1.5-billion loan it is seeking from the International Monetary Fund.
As vague as before "There isn't much information on capital gains tax, though the government said it will reintroduce it. There is an uncertainty on the capital tax percentage. Investors are waiting to know more," said Prashan Fernando, COO, Acuity Stockbrokers.
Investors preferred fixed-interest-rate-bearing assets over shares due to a rise in yields on treasury bills, which are hovering at two-year highs, and on the central bank's unexpected interest rate hike in mid February, dealers said.
Sri Lanka's economy is expected to grow 5.3 percent in 2016, data from the state statistics office showed, but analysts say tight monetary and fiscal policies may curb its growth.
The $82.2-billion economy expanded at a sluggish 2.5 percent in the December quarter, down from an upwardly revised 5.6 percent in the previous quarter.
Analysts and economists worry slower growth could reduce corporate earnings of some listed firms.
Turnover stood at 919.5 million rupees ($6.3 million), more than this year's daily average of 794.1 million rupees.
Shares in Sri Lanka Telecom Plc fell 2.69 percent.
more leave than coming in
Singapore's Keppel Land exits Sri Lanka venture
Feb 26, 2016 17:15 PM GMT+0530 | 1 Comment(s)
ECONMYNEXT - Singapore-based Keppel Land Plc said it had exited a joint venture with Sri Lanka Ceylon Theatres group for 550 million rupees.
The firm said in a Singapore stock exchange filing that it's wholly owned unit Edmonton Pte Ltd, to divest a 60 percent stake in Keppel CT Developments (Pte) Ltd, a joint venture that was to build a condominium in Colombo.
The sale was disclosed despite it not being a material impact on profits or earnings.
The firm said in a Singapore stock exchange filing that it's wholly owned unit Edmonton Pte Ltd, to divest a 60 percent stake in Keppel CT Developments (Pte) Ltd, a joint venture that was to build a condominium in Colombo.
The sale was disclosed despite it not being a material impact on profits or earnings.
Before this it was kerry packer form Australia and China There have not been any major incoming invetors
Sri Lanka banker stops billion dollar bank heist
Sri Lanka banker stops billion dollar bank heist
Mar 13, 2016 07:07 AM GMT+0530 | 0 Comment(s)
(Reuters) - A spelling mistake in an online bank transfer instruction helped prevent a nearly $1 billion heist last month involving the Bangladesh central bank and the New York Federal Reserve, banking officials said.
Unknown hackers still managed to get away with about $80 million, one of the largest known bank thefts in history.
The hackers breached Bangladesh Bank's systems and stole its credentials for payment transfers, two senior officials at the bank said. They then bombarded the Federal Reserve Bank of New York with nearly three dozen requests to move money from the Bangladesh Bank's account there to entities in the Philippines and Sri Lanka, the officials said.
Four requests to transfer a total of about $81 million to the Philippines went through, but a fifth, for $20 million, to a Sri Lankan non-profit organisation was held up because the hackers misspelled the name of the NGO, Shalika Foundation.
Hackers misspelled "foundation" in the NGO's name as "fandation", prompting a routing bank, Deutsche Bank, to seek clarification from the Bangladesh central bank, which stopped the transaction, one of the officials said.
There is no NGO under the name of Shalika Foundation in the list of registered Sri Lankan non-profits. Reuters could not immediately find contact information for the organization.
Deutsche Bank declined to comment.
At the same time, the unusually large number of payment instructions and the transfer requests to private entities - as opposed to other banks - raised suspicions at the Fed, which also alerted the Bangladeshis, the officials said.
The details of how the hacking came to light and was stopped before it did more damage have not been previously reported. Bangladesh Bank has billions of dollars in a current account with the Fed, which it uses for international settlements.
The transactions that were stopped totalled $850-$870 million, one of the officials said.
Last year, Russian computer security company Kaspersky Lab said a multinational gang of cyber criminals had stolen as much as $1 billion from as many as 100 financial institutions around the world in about two years.
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's son Qusay took $1 billion from Iraq's central bank on the orders of his father on the day before coalition forces began bombing the country in 2003, American and Iraqi officials have said. In 2007, guards at the Dar Es Salaam bank in Baghdad made off with $282 million.
MONEY RECOVERED
Bangladesh Bank has said it has recovered some of the money that was stolen, and is working with anti-money laundering authorities in the Philippines to try to recover the rest.
A bank spokesman could not be reached for comment late on Thursday.
The recovered funds refer to the Sri Lanka transfer, which was stopped, one of the officials said.
Initially, the Sri Lankan transaction reached Pan Asia Banking Corp PABC.CM, which went back to Deutsche Bank for more verification because of the unusually large size of the payment, a Pan Asia official said.
"The transaction was too large for a country like us," the official said. "Then (Deutsche) came back and said it was a suspect transaction."
A Pan Asia spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.
The dizzying, global reach of the heist underscores the growing threat of cyber crime and how hackers can find weak links in even the most secure computer networks.
More than a month after the attack, Bangladeshi officials are scrambling to trace the money, shore up security and identify weaknesses in their systems. They said there is little hope of ever catching the hackers, and it could take months before the money is recovered, if at all.
FireEye Inc's FEYE.O Mandiant forensics division is helping investigate the heist, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.
The sources said Silicon Valley-based FireEye, which has investigated some of the biggest cyber thefts on record, was brought in by World Informatix, a smaller firm that is advising Bangladesh Bank on the investigation.
Security experts said the perpetrators had deep knowledge of the Bangladeshi institution's internal workings, likely gained by spying on bank workers. (Full Story)
The Bangladesh government, meanwhile, is blaming the Fed for not stopping the transactions earlier. Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith told reporters on Tuesday that the country may resort to suing the Fed to recover the money.
"The Fed must take responsibility," he said.
The New York Fed has said its systems were not breached, and it has been working with the Bangladesh central bank since the incident occurred.
The hacking of Bangladesh Bank happened sometime between Feb. 4-5, over the Bangladeshi weekend, which falls on a Friday, the officials said. The bank's offices were shut.
Initially, the central bank was not sure if its system had been breached, but cyber security experts brought in to investigate found hacker "footprints" that suggested the system had been compromised, the officials said.
These experts could also tell that the attack originated from outside Bangladesh, they said, adding the bank is looking into how they got into the system and an internal investigation is ongoing.
The bank suspects money sent to the Philippines was further diverted to casinos there, the officials said.
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp, which oversees the gaming industry, said it has launched an investigation. The country's anti-money laundering authority is also working on the case. (DHAKA, March 10/2016)
Unknown hackers still managed to get away with about $80 million, one of the largest known bank thefts in history.
The hackers breached Bangladesh Bank's systems and stole its credentials for payment transfers, two senior officials at the bank said. They then bombarded the Federal Reserve Bank of New York with nearly three dozen requests to move money from the Bangladesh Bank's account there to entities in the Philippines and Sri Lanka, the officials said.
Four requests to transfer a total of about $81 million to the Philippines went through, but a fifth, for $20 million, to a Sri Lankan non-profit organisation was held up because the hackers misspelled the name of the NGO, Shalika Foundation.
Hackers misspelled "foundation" in the NGO's name as "fandation", prompting a routing bank, Deutsche Bank, to seek clarification from the Bangladesh central bank, which stopped the transaction, one of the officials said.
There is no NGO under the name of Shalika Foundation in the list of registered Sri Lankan non-profits. Reuters could not immediately find contact information for the organization.
Deutsche Bank declined to comment.
At the same time, the unusually large number of payment instructions and the transfer requests to private entities - as opposed to other banks - raised suspicions at the Fed, which also alerted the Bangladeshis, the officials said.
The details of how the hacking came to light and was stopped before it did more damage have not been previously reported. Bangladesh Bank has billions of dollars in a current account with the Fed, which it uses for international settlements.
The transactions that were stopped totalled $850-$870 million, one of the officials said.
Last year, Russian computer security company Kaspersky Lab said a multinational gang of cyber criminals had stolen as much as $1 billion from as many as 100 financial institutions around the world in about two years.
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's son Qusay took $1 billion from Iraq's central bank on the orders of his father on the day before coalition forces began bombing the country in 2003, American and Iraqi officials have said. In 2007, guards at the Dar Es Salaam bank in Baghdad made off with $282 million.
MONEY RECOVERED
Bangladesh Bank has said it has recovered some of the money that was stolen, and is working with anti-money laundering authorities in the Philippines to try to recover the rest.
A bank spokesman could not be reached for comment late on Thursday.
The recovered funds refer to the Sri Lanka transfer, which was stopped, one of the officials said.
Initially, the Sri Lankan transaction reached Pan Asia Banking Corp PABC.CM, which went back to Deutsche Bank for more verification because of the unusually large size of the payment, a Pan Asia official said.
"The transaction was too large for a country like us," the official said. "Then (Deutsche) came back and said it was a suspect transaction."
A Pan Asia spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.
The dizzying, global reach of the heist underscores the growing threat of cyber crime and how hackers can find weak links in even the most secure computer networks.
More than a month after the attack, Bangladeshi officials are scrambling to trace the money, shore up security and identify weaknesses in their systems. They said there is little hope of ever catching the hackers, and it could take months before the money is recovered, if at all.
FireEye Inc's FEYE.O Mandiant forensics division is helping investigate the heist, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.
The sources said Silicon Valley-based FireEye, which has investigated some of the biggest cyber thefts on record, was brought in by World Informatix, a smaller firm that is advising Bangladesh Bank on the investigation.
Security experts said the perpetrators had deep knowledge of the Bangladeshi institution's internal workings, likely gained by spying on bank workers. (Full Story)
The Bangladesh government, meanwhile, is blaming the Fed for not stopping the transactions earlier. Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith told reporters on Tuesday that the country may resort to suing the Fed to recover the money.
"The Fed must take responsibility," he said.
The New York Fed has said its systems were not breached, and it has been working with the Bangladesh central bank since the incident occurred.
The hacking of Bangladesh Bank happened sometime between Feb. 4-5, over the Bangladeshi weekend, which falls on a Friday, the officials said. The bank's offices were shut.
Initially, the central bank was not sure if its system had been breached, but cyber security experts brought in to investigate found hacker "footprints" that suggested the system had been compromised, the officials said.
These experts could also tell that the attack originated from outside Bangladesh, they said, adding the bank is looking into how they got into the system and an internal investigation is ongoing.
The bank suspects money sent to the Philippines was further diverted to casinos there, the officials said.
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp, which oversees the gaming industry, said it has launched an investigation. The country's anti-money laundering authority is also working on the case. (DHAKA, March 10/2016)
Short of options, Sri Lanka turns back to Beijing's embrace
http://economynext.com/Short_of_options,_Sri_Lanka_turns_back_to_Beijing_s_embrace-3-4226.html
Short of options, Sri Lanka turns back to Beijing's embrace cost to sri lanka
Already, the suspension of work has cost $380,000 a day overall,By Shihar Aneez
Feb 11, 2016 08:27 AM GMT+0530 | 0 Comment(s)
(Reuters) - Just over a year after a new leader was elected and Sri Lanka's business ties with China came under close scrutiny, Colombo is reversing course by resuming a stalled port project and naming Beijing as the front runner for a new special economic zone.
India is nervous about losing influence over the island nation off its southern tip, while China's push into the Indian Ocean, and the possibility of dual purpose civilian-military facilities in Sri Lanka, are raising alarm further afield.
The ouster of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who steered Sri Lanka towards China until 2015, was a setback for ties, as his successor reviewed projects to check if they were fair and legal.
Now Maithripala Sirisena's government, faced with falling foreign reserves, a balance of payments crunch and few, if any, alternative investors, is heading back into Beijing's embrace, albeit on better terms than before. Is it really true ? who needs who more beijing or sri lanka
"The stance on China has completely changed," cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne told Reuters. "Who else is going to bring us money, given tight conditions in the West?"
Most of the focus has been on the $1.4 billion port city China wants to build in the commercial capital, Colombo, where cranes and diggers have sat idle for months.
But according to International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama, Chinese investors have also expressed interest in a special economic zone (SEZ) in Hambantota, southern Sri Lanka, where a $1.7 billion seaport and airport built by the Chinese are operating at a fraction of capacity.
"We will agree to that. They will invest their own money. That's the way to go forward," Samarawickrama told Reuters.
INDIA "NOT CONCERNED"
Beijing's rehabilitation does not mean the door is closed to other potential investors in Sri Lanka's $79 billion economy.
Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj held talks with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for an SEZ in Trincomalee last week, according to an Indian official.
And New Delhi said it was not unduly worried by China's return to pole position in talks with Colombo.
"The relationship between India and Sri Lanka is robust, is getting stronger," said Renu Pall, joint secretary in the Indian foreign ministry in charge of the Indian Ocean region.
But so far, only Beijing had come up with specific proposals for a trade zone, an official at Sri Lanka's Board of Investment said.
Beijing has already pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into roads and ports since the end of Sri Lanka's civil war in 2009, when Colombo was largely shunned by Western investors over its human rights record.
China's interest is seen as part of its ambitions to build a "Maritime Silk Route" to the oil-rich Middle East and on to Europe.
That makes some countries, including India and the United States, nervous, with Sri Lanka sitting near shipping lanes through which much of the world's trade passes on its way to China and Japan.
Western diplomats have expressed particular concern over Hambantota, located in Rajapaksa's stronghold on the southern tip of the country, because they say it could have both civil and military use.
Sri Lanka's government says such fears are misplaced and that it plays host to a far higher number of ship visits by other foreign navies, including India's.
IMPROVING TERMS OF DEALS
The SEZ in Hambantota is the biggest of four proposals made by the Chinese to Sri Lanka's Board of Investment, the official there said. He did not provide details about others.
The SEZ is one of 45 projects the government plans to help lift growth at a time when public finances have deteriorated and Colombo is seeking an emergency IMF loan to avert a balance-of-payments problem.
Trade Minister Samarawickrama said the government decided to go ahead with the Colombo port city project after proposing to the Chinese to reduce the land area and limit the environmental impact.
Already, the suspension of work has cost $380,000 a day overall, according to state-owned China Communications Construction Co Ltd (CCCC), which is financing the project.
"During negotiations, the new Sri Lankan government understood the reality and also the fact that they were legally bound by the contract," said an official at CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd, the local company handling the project.
Sri Lanka and the Chinese government also discussed loan terms, which critics said were too onerous on the host country, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake told Reuters.
"Everything is going well. If there were 7 percent (interest) loans, we have reduced to lower-regime loans," he said, without detailing which loans were being renegotiated.
China said it looked forward to working closely with Sri Lanka.
"We believe Sri Lanka ... will continue to deepen practical cooperation with China," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying. (Colombo/Feb11/2016)
India is nervous about losing influence over the island nation off its southern tip, while China's push into the Indian Ocean, and the possibility of dual purpose civilian-military facilities in Sri Lanka, are raising alarm further afield.
The ouster of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who steered Sri Lanka towards China until 2015, was a setback for ties, as his successor reviewed projects to check if they were fair and legal.
Now Maithripala Sirisena's government, faced with falling foreign reserves, a balance of payments crunch and few, if any, alternative investors, is heading back into Beijing's embrace, albeit on better terms than before. Is it really true ? who needs who more beijing or sri lanka
"The stance on China has completely changed," cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne told Reuters. "Who else is going to bring us money, given tight conditions in the West?"
Most of the focus has been on the $1.4 billion port city China wants to build in the commercial capital, Colombo, where cranes and diggers have sat idle for months.
But according to International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama, Chinese investors have also expressed interest in a special economic zone (SEZ) in Hambantota, southern Sri Lanka, where a $1.7 billion seaport and airport built by the Chinese are operating at a fraction of capacity.
"We will agree to that. They will invest their own money. That's the way to go forward," Samarawickrama told Reuters.
INDIA "NOT CONCERNED"
Beijing's rehabilitation does not mean the door is closed to other potential investors in Sri Lanka's $79 billion economy.
Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj held talks with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for an SEZ in Trincomalee last week, according to an Indian official.
And New Delhi said it was not unduly worried by China's return to pole position in talks with Colombo.
"The relationship between India and Sri Lanka is robust, is getting stronger," said Renu Pall, joint secretary in the Indian foreign ministry in charge of the Indian Ocean region.
But so far, only Beijing had come up with specific proposals for a trade zone, an official at Sri Lanka's Board of Investment said.
Beijing has already pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into roads and ports since the end of Sri Lanka's civil war in 2009, when Colombo was largely shunned by Western investors over its human rights record.
China's interest is seen as part of its ambitions to build a "Maritime Silk Route" to the oil-rich Middle East and on to Europe.
That makes some countries, including India and the United States, nervous, with Sri Lanka sitting near shipping lanes through which much of the world's trade passes on its way to China and Japan.
Western diplomats have expressed particular concern over Hambantota, located in Rajapaksa's stronghold on the southern tip of the country, because they say it could have both civil and military use.
Sri Lanka's government says such fears are misplaced and that it plays host to a far higher number of ship visits by other foreign navies, including India's.
IMPROVING TERMS OF DEALS
The SEZ in Hambantota is the biggest of four proposals made by the Chinese to Sri Lanka's Board of Investment, the official there said. He did not provide details about others.
The SEZ is one of 45 projects the government plans to help lift growth at a time when public finances have deteriorated and Colombo is seeking an emergency IMF loan to avert a balance-of-payments problem.
Trade Minister Samarawickrama said the government decided to go ahead with the Colombo port city project after proposing to the Chinese to reduce the land area and limit the environmental impact.
Already, the suspension of work has cost $380,000 a day overall, according to state-owned China Communications Construction Co Ltd (CCCC), which is financing the project.
"During negotiations, the new Sri Lankan government understood the reality and also the fact that they were legally bound by the contract," said an official at CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd, the local company handling the project.
Sri Lanka and the Chinese government also discussed loan terms, which critics said were too onerous on the host country, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake told Reuters.
"Everything is going well. If there were 7 percent (interest) loans, we have reduced to lower-regime loans," he said, without detailing which loans were being renegotiated.
China said it looked forward to working closely with Sri Lanka.
"We believe Sri Lanka ... will continue to deepen practical cooperation with China," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying. (Colombo/Feb11/2016)
China Port City company in Sri Lanka
this is not what the government said
China Port City company in Sri Lanka expects "mutually beneficial solution"
Mar 16, 2016 03:00 AM GMT+0530 | 0 Comment(s)
ECONOMYNEXT - CHEC Port City Colombo (Pvt) Ltd, a Chinese state-run firm which was allowed to resume sea reclamation ahead of a visit by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to China in April said it was expecting a "mutually beneficial solution."
Sri Lanka's current administration suspended work on the project in early 2015 after coming to power.
Sri Lanka's ports agency which has an interim concession agreement with CHEC Port City informed the firm in writing that the suspension of its work was lifted this week.
CHEC Port City is operating on an interim agreement with Sri Lanka's ports agency which was extended for six months by the cabinet of ministers earlier this month.
The firm however still has to sign a long term deal with Sri Lanka. The new administration has said the port agency has no capacity to contract with company to reclaim land and such powers have not been conferred to it.
"The Project Company recognised this positive step in moving forward, appreciating the efforts of the Government in working towards a mutually beneficial solution," the firm said in a statement.
The new administration has said it will not give the company freehold land and there has also been a move to make trim the size of the project, which some observers say may not be feasible if the project is to be completed in time.
It is not clear whether Sri Lanka will have to compensate the firm in some way for the losses caused. it is have been revealed compensation for looses due to abrupt closer order is not the question.Question is how much Some even sale the freehold land are has been increase as government has no funds formonatary compensations
CHEC Port City said "the suspension and the lengthy process taken to resume work have resulted in significant losses" to both the firm and the government of Sri Lanka.
"This is a result of the huge financial and resources commitment that is required for a project of this scale, the firm said.
"With the resumption of work now approved, the Project Company will commence with preparatory work as soon as feasible to ensure that the project can be completed in the expected timeframe."
International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickreme who visited Beijing earlier this month said Sri Lanka and China may incorporate a joint venture to run the project.
Under the earlier plan, Sri Lanka was to get some of the reclaimed land.
The Chinese are expected to spend 1.4 billion US dollars to reclaim the land and bring in up to 20 billion Us dollars investments over the next decade.
Sri Lanka's current administration suspended work on the project in early 2015 after coming to power.
Sri Lanka's ports agency which has an interim concession agreement with CHEC Port City informed the firm in writing that the suspension of its work was lifted this week.
CHEC Port City is operating on an interim agreement with Sri Lanka's ports agency which was extended for six months by the cabinet of ministers earlier this month.
The firm however still has to sign a long term deal with Sri Lanka. The new administration has said the port agency has no capacity to contract with company to reclaim land and such powers have not been conferred to it.
"The Project Company recognised this positive step in moving forward, appreciating the efforts of the Government in working towards a mutually beneficial solution," the firm said in a statement.
The new administration has said it will not give the company freehold land and there has also been a move to make trim the size of the project, which some observers say may not be feasible if the project is to be completed in time.
It is not clear whether Sri Lanka will have to compensate the firm in some way for the losses caused. it is have been revealed compensation for looses due to abrupt closer order is not the question.Question is how much Some even sale the freehold land are has been increase as government has no funds formonatary compensations
CHEC Port City said "the suspension and the lengthy process taken to resume work have resulted in significant losses" to both the firm and the government of Sri Lanka.
"This is a result of the huge financial and resources commitment that is required for a project of this scale, the firm said.
"With the resumption of work now approved, the Project Company will commence with preparatory work as soon as feasible to ensure that the project can be completed in the expected timeframe."
International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickreme who visited Beijing earlier this month said Sri Lanka and China may incorporate a joint venture to run the project.
Under the earlier plan, Sri Lanka was to get some of the reclaimed land.
The Chinese are expected to spend 1.4 billion US dollars to reclaim the land and bring in up to 20 billion Us dollars investments over the next decade.
Sri Lanka GDP and inflation
Sri Lanka GDP and inflation Central Bank Figures are hilarious Juts like what other promises this rulers have made
| Sri Lanka GDP with forecasts | 2014 | 2015 (forecast) | 2016 (forecast) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official (Central Bank) | 7.70% | 8.00% | 8.50% |
| IMF | 6.50% | 6.50% | 6.50% |
| World Bank | 7.20% | 6.90% | 6.70% |
| ADB | 7.50% | 7.50% |
| Sri Lanka Inflation with forecasts | 2014 | 2015 (forecast) | 2016 (forecast) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official | 5.50% | 5-6% | 4.00% |
| IMF | 6.60% | 6.40% | 5.80% |
| World Bank | 6.30% | 5.60% | |
| ADB | 5.00% | 6.00% |
Capital Gain tax on in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka should not tax capital gains retrospectively: Bellwether
By Bellwether
Mar 16, 2016 10:53 AM GMT+0530 | 1 Comment(s)
ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka has announced plans to charge capital gains tax and the proposal to tax shares has created uncertainty among investors and analysts, but care should be taken not to make it another retrospective tax.
It may be acceptable to charge capital gains tax, especially since it is the stock market analysts who have amplified an anti-people doctrine that Sri Lanka should charge more taxes from the people to raise a questionable tax to gross domestic product ratio, rather than push the rulers to cut spending.
This is a good lesson to all pundits who push for a higher tax-to-GDP ratio and 'progressive taxation.'
Without doubt capital gains tax is the best 'progressive tax' available.
But the new tax should not further undermine the people's right to a predictable legal framework by being imposed retrospectively, which this administration did with the 'ill gotten gains' tax and other deadly one-off taxes.
Rule of Law
Until 2016 there was no taxation on capital gains. This was the law and understood as such.
If a tax is imposed it should only be imposed on capital gains made from this year onwards and not retrospectively on capital gains made during the time such gains were tax free.
Capital gains taxes are charged in this way.
Someone buys an asset for say 100 rupees. Then sells it later for 120 rupees. He makes a 20 rupee capital gain. If the capital gains tax is 10 percent he will have to pay 2 rupees for the upkeep of the state and rulers.
The taxpayer can also off-set any capital losses against the gains made. If he or she sells shares bought at 100 rupees for 50 rupees, the 50 rupee capital loss can be offset against any gains made.
There can be further refinements to say that shares or houses bought and sold within a small period is only taxed. Shares or houses bought and sold after several years, say 5 years, 10 years or 20 years will be exempt.
It is usual to exempt the first family home from capital gains taxes especially and any property that has been held for a long time, say 10 years, 20 year or 30 years. It is also the practice to reduce capital gains tax rate over time. An asset held for 10 years is taxed at 10 percent but an asset held for 20 years is taxed at 5 percent.
In any case the principle should be not to tax any capital gains made before the tax was imposed.
Transitional Provisions
The simplest solution would be to say that capital gains on any asset including shares bought before say 2016 will be exempt, at whatever date they are sold. This will ensure that only capital gains made from this year onwards is taxed.
Now that the market has fallen, there will be capital gains when it rises in 2017.
However even if the government wants to capture capital gains made on all shares from this year onwards, transitional provisions would be needed to avoid retrospective taxes.
For example say someone bought shares in a bank for 50 rupees in 2005 and it is worth 300 rupees today. If capital gains tax is enacted today, and next week he sells the stock for 310 rupees, his capital gain should not be considered to be 260 rupees. It should only be 10 rupees.
Since there was no ongoing capital gains tax regime, a deemed starting valuation date can be given to accumulate capital gains or losses.
This can be the date the tax is signed into law or any other suitable date in the future.
However a further complication arises because there was no ongoing capital gains regime in the recent past and the stock market has fallen since the new regime came to power.
Suppose capital gains tax is imposed from April 31, 2016 onwards. Someone then sells shares of a manufacturing company which had a market price of 150 (the deemed purchase price) on April 31, for 160 rupee in June.
He would then be deemed to have made a capital gain of 10 rupees.
However in actual fact he had bought the shares in January 2015, for 200 rupees, before the stock market started to go down.
The investor would then be in the unfortunate position of being forced pay tax on a stock which he had made a loss of 40 rupees (bought at 200 rupees last year and sold at 160 rupees though the deemed purchase price is 150 rupees on April 31).
Therefore transitional provisions must be available to either pay capital gains tax on the shares on a deemed starting date or the purchase price, whichever is higher. The gains on all shares would far outweigh the losses made last year.
Avoiding Pitfalls
But such measures however are more complex than charging taxes only on new shares or property bought from the date of the law or this year, and are best avoided.
To encourage smaller investors and perhaps help out pensioners who play the market, a certain amount of capital gains such as 500,000 to million rupees, can be made tax free.
In 2004, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe tried and failed to push through a capital gains tax.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe's 2001-2004 administration probably saw the economic policy that most benefited the weakest and poorest in society and least benefited the state, the ruling class and their unionized acolytes since budgets implemented by then Finance Minister M D H Jayewardene.
In 2004, the administration cut spending, strengthened the rupee, brought inflation down to near zero and then gave a 10 percent salary hike to state workers, protecting the poorest and weakest in society from inflation and currency depreciation as well as the state workers themselves.
It is to his credit that inflation was brought down while the Federal Reserve was firing the mother of all liquidity bubbles and sending oil prices up. The bubble only ended in 2008.
For his pains, an ungrateful public, kicked the administration out of power, misled by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which banked on the 'money illusion' to mislead the public by promising subsidies and state jobs to special interest groups.
The JVP, with its typical unconcern for the poor and deceptively false doctrine, made the fuel price formula, which was what allowed inflation to be low and the rupee strong, a weapon to hit at prudent economic policies that helped all citizens.
This time the new administration gave a massive salary hike to state workers and printed money willy-nilly to pay the salaries and busted the currency to 145 rupees to the US dollar from 131, much like the so-called 'Rata Perata' economic policies did in 2004 by printing money to give fuel subsidies.
By the end 2004, just before the tsunami came and domestic credit fell allowing the currency to stabilize, it may be recalled that the rupee was down to 105 to the dollar from around 95 and inflation was near 20 percent.
But even more damagingly, this administration has undermined the rule of law and taxation principles dating back to South Asia's Gupta Empire by imposing retrospective as well as large one-off taxes that threatened to bankrupt several companies (Sri Lanka's fiscal tyranny by midnight gazette, retrospective taxes must end).
By violating taxation principles and rule of law, the rulers will discourage investments, which in turn will hurt new jobs and productivity gains, keeping people poor.
Retrospective taxation and one-off taxes, which is similar to expropriation, should be avoided in all true free countries with just rule of law (Colombo/Mar15/2016)
Feedback and queries: bellwetherECN@gmail.com
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However, the minister has verbally assured that there would not be tax on share trading profit since it would discourage foreigners from buying shares at a time when they are heavily pulling out from emerging markets