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President rejects request to extend terms of five envoys

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A request from the Foreign Ministry to grant permission for four ambassadors and one high commissioner to complete a three-year tenure beyond the retirement age of 60 has been turned down by the President’s Office.

Permission had been sought for these heads of missions – one of them who has already completed the date of retirement and four others who will be reaching retirement age by next year — to complete the three-year term.

However, a decision has been taken not to grant any extensions keeping with a government policy that public sector employees should retire at the age of 60.

Several other Foreign Ministry requests have also been turned down.

The Foreign Ministry had taken up the position that permission should be granted to complete the three-year tenure in the case of Heads of Mission appointed from the Sri Lanka Foreign Service, despite the revision of the retirement age.

The Ministry also has cited the practice of allowing Heads of Mission appointed from the Foreign Service to complete their full tenure of three years after reaching 60.

Extensions had been sought in respect of Ambassadors P.M. Amza (Riyadh), Grace Asirwatham (Brussels), A. Sabarulla Khan (Oman) and S.D.K Semasinghe (Warsaw) and High Commissioner A.M.J. Sadiq (Maldives).

The Ministry had recommended that Mr Amza be allowed to complete his tenure till October 2024, Ms Asirwatham till June 2023, Ms Semasinghe till June 2024, Mr Sadiq till January 2025 and Mr Khan till September 2025.

In a related development, instructions have gone out to increase the number of professionally trained and experienced Sri Lanka Foreign Service officers to be posted as Heads of Mission overseas.

Currently, less than 50 percent of the Heads of Missions are from the Foreign Service.

(Sunday Times)

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IMF grants waivers despite obligation breach & erred reporting

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The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reviewed non complying purchases made by Sri Lanka under the 2023 Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) as well as inaccuracies of information reported to the IMF.

However, the IMF has decided to grant waivers and not pursue further action, citing corrective measures and a commitment to reform by Sri Lankan authorities.

Following the Executive Board’s discussion, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair – Mr. Kenji Okamura, has issued the following statement:

“The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reviewed non complying purchases made by Sri Lanka under the 2023 Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (“EFF”), as well as a breach of obligations under Article VIII, Section 5. The noncomplying purchases arose as a result of the provision of inaccurate information by the authorities on the stock of expenditure arrears at the first, second, and third reviews under the EFF.

“The inaccuracies in information provided to the IMF were inadvertent and arose because of weaknesses in the timely reporting of arrears by line ministries to the Ministry of Finance, as well as a misunderstanding by the authorities of the definition of “arrears” under the Technical Memorandum of Understanding. 

“The Executive Board positively considered the authorities’ corrective actions, the fact that arrears repayments will be accommodated within the existing fiscal envelope, and the authorities’ commitment to improving public financial management procedures in line with the new PFM law, to reduce the risk of accruing arrears or inaccurate reporting of information going forward. In view of the above, the Executive Board agreed to grant waivers for the nonobservances of the quantitative performance criterion that gave rise to the noncomplying purchases and decided not to require further action in connection with the breach of obligations under Article VIII, Section 5.”

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Abdul Wazeeth appointed to Parliament from SLMC national list

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Abdul Wazeeth of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) has been appointed as a Member of Parliament, the National Election Commission has announced.

His appointment comes following the resignation of former MP M. S. Naleem, who had entered Parliament through the SLMC National List after the 2024 parliamentary election.

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Tense situation in Kahawatta as residents clash with police

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Police had been compelled to use tear gas to control a tense situation that erupted between residents and police in Kahawatta following the funeral of a youth who was shot dead recently.

The funeral was held today (July 03) and the clash had broken out shortly afterwards.

Residents had expressed anger over the handling of the and had hurled stones at the police, reports say.

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