Ravi woos foreign investors
Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake yesterday tipped his hat to foreigners assuring that the Government would provide a range of incentives including a five-year resident visa for a minimum investment of $ 300,000 and rights to lease land for those investing over $ 1.5 million.
These monies could be brought into the country through licensed commercial banks and could be invested in the capital market, banking industry or in treasury bills and bonds, he said.
“We want to attract funds through official channels and our job is to ensure protection for those investors. No questions will be asked. We don’t want to have a witch-hunt,” Karunanayake added.
The Minister said that through this innovative approach not only foreign investors, but also Sri Lankans who held money abroad are encouraged to bring them back to Sri Lanka, assuring that the Government would issue a visa immediately through an administrative order to the Immigration Department and that they would legislate over it later in the year.
“Use Sri Lanka as your investment destination,” he said, adding that the investors could renew the visa as long as they wished to live in the country.
Karunanayake emphasised that the objective was to improve the reserves of the country through these direct deposits, reducing reliance on borrowings from international markets at higher interest rates.
With the introduction of these investment incentives he believes that the results will filter into other areas of the economy such as real estate, opening the space for more houses to be bought by foreigners and reducing the brain drain caused through migration.
Ravi…
However, he assured that by allowing foreigners to lease land and buy apartments, the Government would not allow real estate bubbles to form where assets would be in danger of being overpriced.
The Minister stressed that large foreign companies could bring in their worldwide earnings to Sri Lanka at zero tax, a policy that was also included in Budget 2017.
Finance Minister takes on MR over H’tota port
Reveals letters allegedly written by P.B. urging Chinese Govt. to reconsider terms of debt servicing
The Finance Minister yesterday renewed his offensive against former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, challenging him to a debate for the twelfth time and alleging the previous administration appealed to have repayment commitments on the Hambantota Port reviewed.
Challenging Rajapaksa to a debate on the national economy and financial policies for a twelfth time, he alleged that the port costs revealed to the press by Rajapaksa were false.
The Finance Minister insisted that Rajapaksa borrowed $ 1.3 billion to build the Hambantota Port with no revenue plans and with interest rates of loans ranging from 2%-7.5%.
While presenting documents to reporters, Karunanayake noted that former treasury secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundara wrote letters appealing to the Chinese Government to reconsider their decisions on proposed debt servicing as the port was not making sufficient revenue to meet the repayment plan outlined between the two parties.
Quoting a letter written in August 2014 by Dr. Jayasundara to the Chinese Government, he said: “The Government has borrowed three loans amounting to $ 809 million. We are unable to have debt servicing going on the basis that is projected. Please ensure that we reconsider this decision.”
Karunanayake said he perceived these acts by the former President as “malicious and misleading attempts” with an ulterior motive to jeopardise the economic development of the country.
Commenting on Chinese involvement in the Southern Development Project launched recently, Karunanayake stated: “The Chinese Government is looking at Chinese investment. They like to have access to low production costs and be easily connected to global supply chains.”
However, the Minister said that the Government was open to investments from all countries including India, Korea, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore as well as the European Union. “Any country can invest in Hambantota. We have made it common,” he stressed.
Responding to questions on the state of the Expressions of Interest (EOIs) received for SriLankan Airlines, he acknowledged that the Government may need to have a look at them in a “broader perspective”.
When asked if the Government would have to call for fresh tenders, Karunanayake noted that it was too early to comment on it.
“EOIs have been called and the discussions are going on. The outcome will be mentioned before long,” Karunanayake added.
Ravi K hails CB chief as a ‘good soul’
Alleges cronies of former Governor at work, pledges to reveal names, assures stable rupee
Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake yesterday sought to calm tensions with Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, referring to him as a “good soul” who was being “misled by two cronies” of the former Governor.
“The Governor is a good soul, but he is being misled by two cronies who are running the wrong way,” he said, adding that the two names connected to the former Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal would be revealed in the next couple of days.
Despite the presence of what he termed as an “orchestrated process” within the Central Bank, the Minister assured he remained very confident of the economic system, which he stressed was evident in Sri Lanka regaining the GSP+ facility. He also insisted that the country was now financially and politically stable.
“We want to have sanity prevail. When the President, Prime Minister and Finance Minister say something, then that is the Government’s strategy. We don’t want to be hijacked or distorted by two or three of the former Governor’s cronies. I want to give the fullest confidence that what we say is what we do,” he stressed.
The Finance Minister also assured that the rupee would be stabilised soon, but not through artificial floating.
“My President, Prime Minister and the Cabinet have an opinion that we will ensure that the rupee is protected and also create the environment for people to bring their money to Sri Lanka without any fear. So artificial floating cannot be done,” he noted.
(Source: DailyFT – By Charumini de Silva)
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Hon Ravi Karunanayake is the best Finance Minister we have had since 1948.
London based ‘The Banker’ magazine has named him the 2017 Finance Minister of the Year for Asia-Pacific.
The Banker has recognised Karunanayake ‘for his efforts to steer Sri Lanka into a new era of economic reform and a change of mindset. “Crucially, Karunanayake secured a $1.5bn International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme that the country needed to avoid a balance of payments crisis, replenish reserves and rebuild confidence among international investors,” the magazine said in an article which announced Karunanayake as the winner for the Asia Pacific region.
Karunanayake is outsourcing the dead Hambantota Harbour and the Mattala International Airport. Also, Karunanayake was able to approve a vehicle assembly plant for a close friend under the so-called VW Plant.
‘The Banker’ Magazine has appreciated Ravi K’s efforts in bankrupting our emerald isle. They have given him a title so that he can, with the assistance of the Komis Trade Minister, Malik M, mortgage our land to aliens under the pretext of jobs and development.
no one in his right would dump any dollars in sri lanka for the economy is so insecure. the mainstay of the export economy, the plantations is tea and rubber is in chaos. to rehabilitate the plantations would be a monumental task and periodic ADB grants has done little to resolve the problem and as an agronomist the best that could be done is to allow the land is help to revert to its climax vegetation. Most of the factories are neglected in they are nothing more than scrap yards. The Tea and Rubber research institute exist in name only and serves no purpose other than employment agencies for they have yet to come up with viable sustainable models! In this light what has ravi done ……he is nothing more than rice eating sloth. One time sri lanka produce enough rice at least to feed about 50 percent of the population. According unsubstantiated reports about 20 percent of of the farming populations have abandoned agriculture specially in the wet zone. This was partly due to the infrastructure development projects that took place under the previous government. Because of the sirisena/ranil alliance hostility towards the Chinese in favor of the western alliance their projects lay abandoned and missions to China has had as much effect as pilgrimages to the west.
the most recent fiasco demonstrates as to how bankrupt the policies are and people like ravi ought to be partly responsible for the. the irony is that there several other projects in the making have been abandoned.
the government has no policy their main preoccupation is the constituion and lot of people are chipping in nationally and internationally. the. recently the british ambassador commented on the need for a new constitution. he should have noted the country was run on a legacy left behind by them. the problem is not the constitution, if it works for the indians then there is no reason why it cant work for us, indians are comfortable with the bicameral system we abandoned for the simple reason they want some sort of dictatorship and since the reublicn constitution went for executive presidency the incumbent presidents aspired to hold onto absolute power but failed like most other autocracies world wide. given half a chance ravi acts like a budding president ……god forbid that eventuality
Please do not send a penny to Sri Lanka. You want get it back. Because of corruption. no world bank will lend money to this corrupted country govern by crooks and thugs. So now they try to get your money by giving false promises. They will buy cars and will have a jolly good time with your money as they done by the money they have borrowed from other countries.