祝スリランカ内戦終結！！

2009年5月18日、約25年に及んだスリランカの内戦が漸く正式に終結しました。昨年9月に初めて同国を訪問したとき、政府の役人や地元有力者と面会した時に、「終戦間近！」と皆口を揃えて自信たっぷりといっていたのを思い出します。

いよいよプロジェクト本格始動！しばらくサボっていましたが、今後定期的にスリランカ情報をお届けします。

IMF loan for Sri Lanka not appropriate now: Clinton
WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said here Thursday it "is not an appropriate time" to consider a massive International
Monetary Fund loan for Sri Lanka.
Clinton told reporters that the United States has been "trying to convince both sides," the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger guerrillas,
to stop fighting.
"We have also raised questions about the IMF loan at this time. We think that it is not an appropriate time to consider that (loan) until there is a
resolution of the conflict," Clinton added. The United States is the main shareholder in the IMF and its approval is key to the release of the loan.
Clinton's comments came two weeks after the IMF said talks with Sri Lanka for a bailout package of around two billion dollars were continuing
despite reports the fund was under pressure to withold the planned financing. News reports said US officials indicated that they want the IMF
loan to Sri Lanka, aimed at helping the low-income Asian country cope with the global financial crisis, delayed to prod Colombo to step up aid
to civilians.
The central bank in Colombo said at the time that an IMF mission was in Sri Lanka to try to ensure there are enough controls to verify that the
IMF funds for balance-of-payments support are not used for other purposes. Sri Lankan central bank governor Nivard Cabraal said the IMF
loan was on track and procedures such as safeguard assessments had to be finished regardless of whether the United States was dragging its feet
over the loan.
(AFP, 14-May-2009)
Domestic
Sri Lanka working on alternatives to IMF money: CB Governor
May 14, 2009 (LBO) - Sri Lanka is working on a back-up plan with other countries to boost foreign reserves in addition to an International
Monetary Fund (IMF) loan, Central Bank governor Nivard Cabraal said.
"All of us must have a plan A, plan B, plan C and plan D if possible and we are working on those," said Cabraal, told the the 27th LBO-LBR
CEO Forum this week.
The Central Bank has been negotiating with the IMF to secure a 1.9 billion dollar bailout after it lost reserves defending a dollar peg.
But comments by Western nations, linking it to an internal conflict have raised doubt about the date the funds could be released.
Cabraal, was answering questions at the LBO-LBR CEO Forum called 'Governor's Edition - a fireside chat' held at the Cinnamon Grand hotel
attended by over 200 senior corporate executives.
In March the Central Bank inked a foreign exchange (forex) swap agreement with the Malaysian Central Bank for 200 million dollars.
"Again looking at our roadmap we said we'll be looking at certain swap arrangements with certain countries and we have already done one and
there's another one that's very close," said Cabraal
"I was there a couple of weeks ago and we had some fruitful discussions and this will give us the necessary breathing space."
Cabraal said the Central Bank has relaxed foreign exchange regulations to attract more forex inflows into the country.
"We are giving bonus interest for non-resident foreign currency account holders to encourage people to come into the country," said Cabraal.
He said that soon the expected ending of the three decade old ethnic conflict could attract forex inflows needed for re-construction work.
"When you start reconstruction work, the diaspora, especially the Tamil diaspora, will be probably sending in a lot of money," said Cabraal.
"It won't be today, it won't happen tomorrow, it may not happen the day after tomorrow but over time a large amount of money will come-in for
reconstruction work."
He said negotiations are also underway with the government of Libya to secure a 500 million dollar loan.
Cabraal said he met senior Libyan government officials in Tripoli and the loan looked promising.
(LBO, 14-May-2009)
Average inflation projected around six percent in 2009 - CB Governor
The average inflation projected for this year will be around six percent due to the Government’s proper fiscal and economic policies, said the
Governor of the Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal.
“Despite all odds, the Central Bank was able to bring down the inflation level to a greater extent and hope to bring it down to a manageable
level in the coming years,” Cabraal told the 27th LBR-LBO Chief Executive Officers’ Forum on Tuesday.
He said that the current global economic crisis or turmoil is beyond our control and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is now fighting
against making predictions on this issue.
However, the Central Bank is optimistic to register a six percent plus growth rate and to bring down and manage the inflation level to a single
digit despite all these issues, he said.
Sri Lanka recorded 12 percent inflation in the past thirty years and the current trend is that Sri Lanka is moving towards low inflation countries
in the region, the inflation rate now being 2.9 percent, Cabraal said.
The reason for the inflation level to come down in the country, is that the CB is dealing with several monetary policies and instruments to arrest
the high inflation by relaxing the monetary and fiscal policies, he said.
(Daily News, 14-May-2009)