01. Deputy Director of Medical Services Dr. G. Wijesuriya says a major increase in the number of dengue cases can be expected in SL; adds the record in 2023 so far is three times higher than that of the corresponding period of the last two years.
02. Ruling Party MP Dhammika Perera says the forex crisis leading to the decline of imports and subsequently the decline of income via customs duty has stemmed the increase of taxes, hence the problems with the current tax system.
03. Former MP P. Harrison announces he will resign from his position as the Vice Chairman of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya and leave the Party to extend his fullest support to President Ranil Wickremesinghe; adds 20 more will join.
04. SJB MP Dr. Harsha De Silva warns against the “potential risks of domestic debt optimisation,” stressing the need for ‘extreme caution’; adds if not managed carefully, domestic debt optimisation could become a burden rather than a relief for the economy: Silva was a strong advocate for the April 2022 ‘debt default’ leading to the subsequent submission to IMF conditions.
05. Many low-lying areas in Galle and Matara districts have severely been affected by flooding caused by the overflowing of Nilwala and Ginganga rivers due to adverse weather conditions: Traffic obstructed: Power outages reported in several areas.
06. Public servants required to resume the scanning of their fingerprints when reporting for duty and leaving the offices from today: The fingerprint scanning system was suspended in January, 2022 due to the Covid pandemic.
07. Sri Lanka’s national carrier SriLankan Airlines says it did not receive any outside funding in the last two years; adds it suffered a forex loss of Rs. 142.6 billion resulting from the re-evaluation of net foreign currency liabilities due to the sudden depreciation of the Sri Lankan Rupee in March 2022.
08. The Hamilton Reserve Bank (HRB) Ltd. and the Government of Sri Lanka submit a joint status letter to the Southern District Court of New York outlining the schedule in response to the April 20 order by US District Judge L. Denise Cote: HRB owns over US$ 250 million in principle amount of the US$ 1 billion ISBs matured on July 25, 2022: HRB alleged SL owes US$ 250.19 million in principle and US$ 7.349 million in accrued interest due to the ‘debt default’: GOSL denies almost all the allegations.
09. The Australian Government announces it will gift a former Royal Australian Air Force Beechcraft KA350 King Air aircraft (registration A32-673) to the Sri Lankan Government: The aircraft to be used to enhance Sri Lanka’s sovereign aerial maritime surveillance capability.
10. The case filed by Sri Lanka at a Singaporean court seeking compensation for the eco damage caused by the MV X-Press Pearl disaster to be taken up again today: A Singaporean law firm to appear for the case representing Sri Lanka: Case was taken up for the first time on May 09, 2023.
