President Ranil Wickremesinghe announced that the Sri Lankan government expects to conclude discussions and reach an agreement with private bondholders on restructuring the country’s debt next week.
He made this statement while addressing the “Ekwa Jayagamu” public rally in Matara on Sunday (30).
In a significant milestone, Sri Lanka recently sealed a deal with the Official Creditor Committee (OCC) to restructure the debt owed to its bilateral lenders, including India, and signed a separate agreement with China for debt treatment.
Wickremesinghe noted that since signing the agreements with bilateral creditors, representatives of private bondholders have begun discussions with the government.
“As of now, we have successfully achieved progress on both sides. We are expecting to successfully conclude this by next week,” he said.
The President also announced that elections, including the Presidential Election, General Election, and Provincial Council Election, will take place within this year and next year.
The United National Party (UNP) and a section of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) launched the President’s election campaign island-wide, starting from Matara under the theme ‘Ekwa Jayagamu’ (Victory Through Unity).
The rally was attended by Ministers Prasanna Ranatunga, Kanchana Wijesekera, Ali Sabry, Harin Fernando, Manusha Nanayakkara, Ramesh Pathirana, Douglas Devananda, North Western Province Governor Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, and President’s Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor on National Security Sagala Ratnayake.
The “Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Establishment and Maintenance of Places of Unlawful Detention and Torture Chambers at the Batalanda Housing Scheme” which was recently tabled in Parliament, has been handed over to the Attorney General by the Presidential Secretariat following a directive from President Anura Kumara Disanayake.
The report, originally compiled over 25 years ago, was tabled in Parliament recently. The Government has taken a decision to take necessary action and as a result, actions have been initiated to hand over the report to the Attorney General’s Department today (29).
The former Vice Chairman of the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB), L.A. Wimalaratne, who was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) earlier today (April 29), has been released on bail.
He was arrested in connection with an investigation into a house in Kataragama, allegedly linked to the family of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) in collaboration with the event rights holder of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) – the IPG Group, has officially announced that the franchise partnerships of the ‘Colombo Strikers’ and ‘Jaffna Kings’ have been terminated.
According to a statement issued today (April 28), the terminations were made due to the respective franchises’ failure to fulfill contractual obligations outlined in their agreements with the IPG Group, which were established at the commencement of their participation in the league.
Accordingly, the forthcoming edition of the Lanka Premier League will feature franchises representing Colombo and Jaffna under new ownership, the statement notes.
As the event rights holder, the IPG Group retains the exclusive rights over the LPL franchise teams and, accordingly, is vested with the authority to transfer and/or assign the ownership rights of the said franchises to interested parties.
Sri Lanka Cricket and The IPG Group remain committed to upholding the integrity, standards, and success of the Lanka Premier League and look forward to an exciting upcoming season with renewed participation.