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IMF's deep concern over SL situation_我的网站

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一 | Colombo, Oct 20 (UNI) A Sri Lankan biodiversity scientist wants to import six Bisons from India but the plan has run into weather from the department of forest.

The scientist who is also a public policy advisor do not have permission from the Department of Forest Conservation and the Department of Wildlife Conservation to buy the Bisons from India, The Island newspaper on Thursday quoted the Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) as saying.

CEJ Director and Chief Advisor Hemantha Withanage said: “The Department of Wildlife Conservation states that these animals are found in the central region of India and there are problems regarding their adaptation to Sri Lanka."

Biodiversity expert Rohan Pethiyagoda said he was under the impression that the CEJ had been misled by an Indian newspaper report that there was a proposal to reintroduce in the Sri Lankan wild gaur or Indian Bisons which became extinct in the island nation some centuries ago.

“The demography of Sri Lanka has changed drastically for that to be feasible, and we have enough and more problems with human-elephant conflict. All I requested our High Commissioner in Delhi was to ascertain if the Indian government might in principle be willing to entertain a request from Sri Lanka to establish a herd of gaur in our National Zoological Gardens,” he told the Mirror.

“That is all there is to this. Of course, there may be those who are opposed to the idea of the zoo maintaining a herd of gaur. But in my opinion, most Sri Lankans would like such a move."

He said the reintroduction of the species to the wild was a hugely expensive, scientifically complex and time-consuming enterprise.

“But I would be astonished if anyone thought there is anything wrong with the last large mammal species to become extinct in Sri Lanka being represented in our national zoo.”

UNI MR。 Colombo, Oct 17 (UNI) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has expressed deep concern over the current situation in Sri Lanka and said it hopes it will be able to work fast to end the suffering, specially of the country’s poor and vulnerable.
Addressing queries put forward by the media, including that of Mirror Business at a press briefing, the IMF reiterated that although the staff-level agreement on a four-year EFF programme was reached, the initial disbursement of the programme will only come after the board meeting.
IMF Deputy Director (Asia and the Pacific) Anne-Marie Gulde-Wolf said the disbursement of IMF financing was “preconditioned on the authorities taking certain prior actions on which they are already working. And importantly, on reaching a solution on the debt situation so far”, the Daily Mirror reported on Monday.
As the island nation’s debt was assessed as unsustainable at this stage, the IMF official shared that for the IMF executive board to approve it will need two specific financing assurances.
The first would be from official bilateral creditors, where the fund requires assurances that debt sustainability will be restored. The second assurance is to establish there are “good faith” efforts underway to deal with private sector debt.
Sri Lanka is currently working with its legal and financial advisors on this debt element, the Mirror said.
With regard to the timeline, Gulde-Wolf said it was difficult to be specific in this regard since the process of debt negotiations usually takes time.
IMF’s experience from its member nations in this regard was that the timeline differs depending on who the creditors were and what is involved.
“We certainly are supporting the process as much as we can. And we hope that everybody can work expeditiously to get a process underway, and discussions have been starting, including with the support of all bilateral creditors that are involved,” the report quoted her as saying.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that Sri Lanka is and will remain a middle-income country even after a decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The Fund is currently working closely with the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on programmes for Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka is expecting to raise up to US$ 2.0 billion worth of bilateral loans collectively from the ADB), the World Bank and other multilateral lenders as bridge financing after country secured programme support from the Fund, according to President and Finance Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
UNI MR。