government of sri lanka Archives

A History Lesson for the Western Powers

History is a funny animal. Like a pet dog it can be loved, rubbed, groomed, fed, made to obey, ignored, forgotten, punished, or locked up – depending on the owner’s proclivities and prevailing mood. As long as the animal is fed, it is usually cooperative. In a rare moment, however, it can bite back if provoked or mistreated. I think this might be just one of those moments when the dog takes a nip out of his owner’s hide. Let me explain.

The recent uproar over presumed human rights abuses by the Government of Sri Lanka resulted in the “Western Powers” crying foul in unison. Even without proper investigation, for some strange reason they quickly jumped to condemn the GOSL, which was doing everything it could to protect the lives of the innocent Tamil human shields and bring them to safety in the No Fire Zone.

There has been a lot of tearful feigned sympathy for the rescued IDP’s, but there has also been a huge loss of memory in regards to the “Western Powers” past sins of mass murder, or their looking the other way while thousands suffered and died on their watch.

Now OPEN: Treasury bill and Treasury bond Market for Sri Lankan Diaspora

Treasury bills and Treasury bonds are issued by the Government of Sri Lanka to Sri Lankan Diaspora and Migrant Workforce since January 6th, 2009.

Through this scheme, it is expected to widen the investor base, diversify the Government Securities market, make it more convenient for Sri Lankans living abroad to access Government Securities, and to create a more stable Government securities market.

This scheme will also provide a safe and highly liquid investment opportunity for Sri Lankans living abroad, while providing them with an attractive return on their investments.

To facilitate this endeavour, which is expected to cover almost the entire globe, six Joint Lead Managers, namely, Bank of Ceylon, Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC, National Savings Bank, NatWealth Securities Ltd., People’s Bank and Sampath Bank have been appointed.

Investments in Treasury bills or Treasury bonds could be channelled through any one of the Joint Lead Managers, using the Treasury bill/bond Investment External Rupee Account-D (TIERA-D) to be opened by the investor for that purpose.Remittances into and out of TIERA-D accounts would be free from exchange controls.This scheme will benefit, Sri Lankans living abroad, including Sri Lankans who have made their permanent residence overseas (Non-residents), citizens of Sri Lanka who have taken up overseas employment or set up business abroad, citizens of Sri Lanka with dual citizenship living in Sri Lanka or abroad, and Sri Lankan professionals living in Sri Lanka or abroad who earn income in foreign currency.