Sri Lanka High Commission in Ottawa

Time for SAARC to move towards result-oriented action plans - President Rajapaksa

18th_SAARC_Summit

President Mahinda Rajapaksa emphasized the imperative need for SAARC to move towards implementing result-oriented, actionable plans, which impact directly on the lives of the people.

He said that having evolved in structure, form and content, through almost three decades, SAARC is at a crucial juncture and now there is a need to shift from the present traditional approach and move towards implementing result-oriented, actionable plans, which impact directly on the lives of our peoples.

Addressing the 18th SAARC summit in Kathmandu today (November 26), he urged South Asian leaders to morally in keeping with the SAARC spirit to join forces against external threats on Member States. “While SAARC practice has been to abstain from involvement in bilateral issues of a political nature, we must resist external manipulations,” he said.

External Sector Performance – September 2014

Press Release

Economic Research Department

07.11.2014

External Sector Performance – September 2014

Overview

External sector sustained its growth momentum with expanding external trade activities in September 2014. Since July 2014, the expenditure on imports continued to rise reflecting the rebound of investment goods imports in particular. As the cumulative earnings on exports outweighed the cumulative expenditure on imports, the trade deficit during the first nine months of 2014 narrowed, while tourist earnings and workers’ remittances continued to be stable sources of inflows improving the current account of the Balance of Payments (BOP). Inflows to the financial account in the form of project loans to the government and inflows to the banking sector continued to strengthen the BOP resulting in a healthy surplus in the overall BOP during the first nine months of 2014, despite some volatility in the government securities and equity markets.

Export Performance

Minister Peiris voices concerns of GOSL over OHCHR Investigation

The Minister of External Affairs, Prof. G.L. Peiris met the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations, Mr. Subinay Nandy today and conveyed to him, the Government’s extreme discontent regarding the unprofessional manner in which the investigation on Sri Lanka is being conducted by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

The Minister’s protest to the UN Resident Coordinator focused on the unacceptable way in which the deadline for submission of evidence to the investigation, 30 October, that had been originally set by the OHCHR had been changed unofficially and re-set once again.

Monetary Policy Review – November 2014

Reflecting the recent downward adjustments to domestic energy prices, headline inflation on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis declined to its lowest level since November 2009 to record 1.6 per cent in October 2014, compared to 3.5 per cent in the previous month. Annual average headline inflation also declined to 3.8 per cent from 4.2 per cent. Core inflation (y-o-y) meanwhile, was at 3.6 per cent in October 2014 compared to 3.7 per cent in the previous month indicating well contained demand pressures on inflation. It is expected that subdued commodity prices in the international market, recent budget proposals such as reducing the Value Added Tax (VAT) to 11 per cent and stable inflation expectations would keep inflation at benign levels in the period ahead.

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“Meet in Sri Lanka” – MICE Tourism Promotion in Dubai

The Sri Lanka Convention Bureau and SriLankan Airlines in coordination with the Sri Lanka Consulate General in Dubai organized a Road Show “Meet in Sri Lanka” on Tuesday, 21^st October 2014 at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Dubai to promote the country as a Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) destination. More than 80 tour operators in UAE attended the promotion event.