March 31, 2016 Reading Time: 2 minutes
Argentina’s president wins approval for debt deal. Image credit – anvmedia/depositphotos
Reading Time: 2 min read
Land ownership laws to be amended
In a bid to assist those who were forced to abandon their land during the Sri Lankan civil war, the government hopes to amend the existing law relating to prescriptive rights.
According to the current law, a person cannot claim the right to his/her land if it has been abandoned for more than ten years.
Sri Lanka to explore FTA with China
The Minister of Industry and Commerce, Rishad Bathiudeen, stated that a delegation from Sri Lanka will visit China next week to discuss the proposed bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
According to Sri Lanka’s Department of Commerce, Sri Lanka’s overall trade with China in 2015 was at $4 billion, up by 12% from 2014. The Minister stressed the long-standing and historic relations between the two countries.
Central Bank seeks US $3 billion in bond investments
The Central Bank is planning to raise up to US $3 billion via international sovereign bonds, in an attempt to reduce the country’s debt burden.
The Central Bank has explained that the issuances in single or multiple tranches would be in US Dollars and Chinese Renminbi, with a fixed coupon, and medium to long term maturity scales.
Vietnam elects first female speaker
The Parliament of Vietnam, known as the National Assembly, elected Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan as the country’s first female house speaker.
She was also elected Chairperson of the National Election Council, with 467 votes out of 477 valid ballots cast in her favour.
Central African Republic elects new President
Faustin Archange Touadera became the first elected leader of the Central African Republic after the country’s government was overthrown by rebel forces more than 3 years ago.
Touadera won the presidential elections with nearly 63% of the votes and assumed office this week, ending the two-year tenure of the transitional government.
Argentina wins approval for debt deal
The President of Argentina, Mauricio Macri, has won approval for a repayment deal with creditors in New York which could potentially end the country’s 15 year legal battle with holdout creditors.
The US Senate approved the proposed repayment package in relation to a US $100 billion loan on which Argentina defaulted in 2001.
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