News

State institutions allowed to open accounts in private banks for emergencies

Published

7 months ago

March 1, 2023

editor

A decision has been taken during a special Cabinet meeting held today (March 01) to permit state institutions, ministries, departments and statuary boards to open accounts at private banks, if trade union actions are hindering the opening of letters of credit to import medicines and other essential goods, says the Cabinet Spokesperson, Minister Bandula Gunawardene.

During the meeting, the ministers have pointed out to the President that as a result of the state bank staff resorting to trade union actions, the continuation of public services may become problematic.

They have also highlighted that it will affect the lives of the people, if a situation emerges, where it is not possible to issue letters of credit on time, especially for the most essential services such as purchasing fuel, gas and medicines.

Accordingly, drawing attention towards this situation, the Cabinet of Ministers has proposed to permit public institutions to open and maintain accounts at private banks to be useful in case of an emergency.

Thus, the President has instructed to grant approval for the matter with prior approval of the Ministry of Finance, Minister Bandula Gunawardena said.

(adaderana.lk)

News

Govt. to set up mechanism to prevent & control forest fires

Published

26 mins ago

September 26, 2023

editor

Taking into consideration the number of forest fires reported in the recent past, the Cabinet has approved a proposal to implement a programme to prevent the occurrence of forest fires and extinguish forest fires.

Government said that there is a rapidly increasing risk of forest fire caused by man-made fires around forests, especially during dry weather conditions.

“This situation is common in Badulla, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Matale, Monaragala, Polonnaruwa, Kurunegala, Puttalam and Rathnapura Districts. The number of forest fires reported so far this year is about 150. As a result, around 2,600 hectares of forests have been destroyed,” it said.

Accordingly, the Cabinet approved a proposal presented by the Forest and Wildlife Conservation Minister to implement a programme with the support of the government and other relevant parties from the national-level to the rural-level to prevent the occurrence of forest fires and extinguish forest fires.

News

Cabinet approves proposal to obtain USD 200mn from ADB

Published

31 mins ago

September 26, 2023

editor

The Cabinet has approved a proposal to obtain an amount of USD 200 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) subject to an annual interest rate of 2%.

Initial discussions between the ADB and the Sri Lankan Government were held to obtain two loan facilities worth USD 200 million each based on policies to implement two sub-programmes under the economic stabilization and reformation programme.

It has been proposed to implement accelerated reformations to enhance the conflict management framework and the stabilization in the finance sector under the first sub-programme while it has been proposed to develop an all-inclusive resistant finance system under the second sub-programme.

Accordingly, the proposal submitted by the President as the Minister of Finance, to enter into a loan agreement with the ADB to obtain USD 200 million with a repaying period of 25 years inclusive of a grace period of 05 years in relation to the first sub-programme, was approved by the Cabinet.