Dispelling predictions of global financial institutions on the country’s high proportion of short-term debt, the Sri Lanka government says that its better debt management, both directly and indirectly, has already started to take effect, State Minister of Finance Ajith Nivard Cabraal said.

Sri Lanka police have been given sweeping powers to enforce COVID-19 quarantine norms.

The United National Party (UNP) said that the government has failed to control the second wave of COVID-19 despite repeated warnings from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and urged the government to accord full priority to the on going outbreak and to ensure the health and safety of all citizens.

The rapid increase in coronavirus cases threatens Sri Lanka’s economic recovery. After an initial phase during which the pandemic was kept under control, the number of cases has surged since 4 October, official sources said.

A Chinese expert is due to arrive in Sri Lanka to fix the main PCR machine that had recently malfunctioned, the National Operations Center for the Prevention of COVID-19 (NOCPC) said.

US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo on Wednesday called on Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and discussed a range of bilateral issues, including economic partnership based on transparent trade and investment, COVID-19 as well as a shared commitment to democratic freedoms.