President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed a Presidential Task Force in charge of Economic Revival and Poverty Eradication.

It has been established under the powers vested in the President by the Constitution.

The Task Force is responsible for reviving the economy and eradication of poverty while paying special attention to the challenges posed and opportunities emerged in Sri Lanka in the wake of COVID – 19 outbreak.

Based on the vision of the “Saubhagyaye Dekma”, policy statement, the Task Force should steer the relevant institutes to create a production economy through the formulation of a unique economic structure based on novel initiatives.

Implementation of joint operations to establish a people-centric economy which will promote domestic industrialists and entrepreneurs is another objective of the Task Force.

It has also been tasked with the responsibility of taking measures to distribute products in liaising with all the institutes while paying attention to the activities undertaken by the health and education task forces to maintain normalcy in the civilian life.

The Task Force is required to  inform the President of all instances where any public official, Ministry, State Department, State Corporation or any other similar institute which delays or fails to  perform duties and responsibilities assigned by it.

Relevant provisions relating to the Task Force appointed on January 24, 2020 and March 24 on Poverty Alleviation and Livelihood Development and the Presidential Task Force appointed on March 23, 2020 on administration of essential services to continue civilian life which have been identified as high risk zones in the face of COVID- 19 spread will be abolished with the establishment of the new Task Force.

The scope and the responsibilities of the Task Force in charge of Economic Revival and Poverty Eradication will be announced in a gazette notification to be published soon.

Special Representative of the President Mr. Basil Rajapaksa will chair the Task Force while Additional Secretaries to the Office of the Prime Minister Mr. Anton Perera and D. S. Jayaweera will function as Co- Secretaries.

Following is the complete list of members of the Task Force:

1. Basil Rajapaksa, Special Representative of the President
2. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Senior Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka
3. Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, Chief of the Defence Staff/ Commander of the Army
4. C. D. Wickremarathne, Acting Inspector General of Police
5. Major General (Retired) Shantha Dissanayake, Chairman, Consumer Affairs Authority
6. J. A. Nushad M. Perera, Chairman, Lanka Sathosa
7. Susantha Rathnayake, Chairman, Board of Investment of Sri Lanka
8. Jayantha de Silva, Chairman, Information and Communication Technology Agency
9. Kimarli Fernando, Chairperson, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority
10. Jayampathi Molligoda, Chairman, Sri Lanka Tea Board
11. Prabath Subasinghe, Chairman, Exports Development Board
12. A.Wimalaweera, Commissioner General of Labour
13. S. Singappuli, Commissioner of Cooperative Development
14. Rear Admiral (Retired) Ananda Peiris, Director General, Department of Civil Defence
15. Major General (Retired) Vijitha Ravipriya, Director General, Sri Lanka Customs
16. Bandula Thilakasiri, Director General, Department of Samurdhi Development
17. Sanjaya Mohottala, Director General, Board of Investment of Sri Lanka
18. Major General (Retired) Sudantha Ranasinghe, Director General, Disaster Management Center
19. Mahesh Gammampila, Director, Fertilizer Secretariat
20. Buddhika Madihahewa, General Manager, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation
21. Rohan Seneviratne, Additional General Manager, Ceylon Electricity Board
22. Mano Sekaram, Director Board Member, Information and Communication Technology Agency
23. Major General (Retired) Sumedha Perera
24. Sanjeewa Gunawardene, Executive Officer, E. B. Creasy & Co.
25. Samantha Kumarasinghe, Owner, Natures Secret
26. Mahesh Amalean Chairman, MAS Holdings
27. Ravi Liyanage, Chairman and CEO, The Kingdom of Raigam
28. Padmalal Withanage, Managing Director, Sanmik Group Of Companies
29. S.B.Divarathna, Retired Deputy Secretary to the Treasury
30. Secretary to the Prime Minister and Secretaries to Ministries of Finance, Economic and Policy Development, Roads & Highways,Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government, Plantation Industries and Export Agriculture, Industries & Supply Chain Management, Power and Energy, Women & Child Affairs and Social Security, Mahaweli, Agriculture, Irrigation & Rural Development, Water Supply & Housing Facilities, Defence, Internal Trade, Food Security and Consumer Welfare.

The Alibaba Foundation and Jack Ma Foundation donates 20,000 testing kits to Sri Lanka to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in the island.

The Prime Minister’s Office said, that the donation was given by the representatives of the foundations to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa last night.

Meeting with the secretaries to ministries yesterday (15) at the Presidential Secretariat, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa discussed rebuilding the economy in the face of the current challenges.

Returning to normalcy without compromising safety 

A focal point of the discussion was on returning to normalcy. To do so, President emphasized the need for the public and private sectors to recommence its business activities. Thus curfew needs to be eased to allow these functionalities to proceed without undue obstruction. The responsibility of ensuring the public adhering to safety regulations and preventing large gatherings was entrusted on the secretaries to the ministries as well as heads of institutes.

Creating a New Economic Trend

Rebuilding a policy-driven economy is the responsibility of all, noted President. Whilst protecting people and the local economy, the responsibility of creating a new economic trend lies with the ministries. It is important to establish new businesses and industries. Experienced entrepreneurs must have fresh opportunities. The relevant ministries must at the same time extend the required foundation and support needed for agrarian and fisheries sectors as well as other businesses to recover.

Taking the global crisis into consideration, the need to pay special attention to the local agrarian economy was underlined. Facilities needed to maximize production of export agricultural crops from available land must also be provided, President instructed the officials. Thus it is very important that even the farmer at village level has easy access to the State machinery.

Recommencing stalled development projects 

The discussions also centered on restarting the development projects that were halted due to the prevailing crisis. One of these projects was the initiation to add 100,000 km to the existing road network. It was decided to prioritize this project as a starting point.

Secretary to the President P. B. Jayasundara, Principal Advisor to President Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary to the Prime Minister Gamini Senarath and Cabinet Secretary S. Amarasekera also joined the discussion.

The curfew currently in force in the districts of Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara,  Puttalam, Kandy and Jaffna which have been identified as High Risk Zones will continue until further notice.

In all other districts, curfew will be lifted at 6.00am tomorrow, Thursday, the 16^th April and will be re-imposed at 4.00 pm on the same day. Curfew in these areas will be effective until 6.00 am on Monday, the 20^th April.

Imposing curfew in these districts after 6.00am on April 20^th will be notified later.

The sole purpose of these measures including imposing curfew is to ensure the well-being of the people of this country in this critical situation. Hence, the Government requests the public to bear the inconveniences caused as a result of ongoing curfew in a responsible manner.

Also, the Government emphasizes to purchase only the most essential items and to avoid unnecessary travelling. The Government further requests to limit the traditions and relationships during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year only to the members of the family.

The government has put in place a mechanism to continuously supply essential food and other goods enabling the public to purchase them while at homes, during curfew hours,.

Those who are engaged in paddy farming and fishing and cultivation of small tea holdings  and export crops in any district are permitted to carry out their activities.

Traveling to and from all districts has been completely prohibited except for the purpose of providing essential services.

Those who misuse regulations introduced with the prime objective of ensuring the smooth and efficient functioning of essential services will severely be dealt with according to the law.

The villages which have been declared isolated areas in any district will remain in the same category.  No one will be allowed to enter or leave from these areas until further notice.

The Management Committee of the COVID – 19 Healthcare and Social Security Fund met at the Presidential Secretariat today (15). The Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Prof. W. D. Lakshman is the head of the committee. The Chief Financial Officer of the Presidential Secretariat Ravindra J. Wimalaweera is the Secretary of the committee with 16 other members including Secretaries to the Ministries and other heads of organizations.

The Fund continues to receive donations from various parties. The committee discussed future activities related to the measures to be taken to meet the expectations by establishing this Fund by the President.

Provision of medicine, medical research equipment, providing financial needs for health security facilities including capacity building, ensuring the safety and well-being of employees of the health sector and essential service providers and provision of basic needs of children, women, low-income families, senior citizens, disabled persons and other vulnerable groups are among the main objectives of the Fund. The Fund is also tasked with the responsibility of coordination with the WHO, UNICEF, UNDP, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and major development donor communities and agencies of Sri Lanka to raise funds.

With corporate and individual donations and direct donations, the COVID – 19 Healthcare and Social Security Fund‘s balance has reached Rs. 655 million.

Secretary of Defence, Major General (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne handed over a donation of Rs.3 million collected by the Rakna Arakshaka Lanka Limited and Rs. 4 lakhs collected by South Korean branch of the  ‘Api Wenuwen Api’ Fund to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Donations of Rs. 07 million by the NDB Bank, Rs. 6.7 million by the Lanka Hospitals Corporation, Rs.10 million by the Commercial Bank, Rs. five million each by the Colombo Dockyard PLC and Mr. D.J.A. Samarasinghe,  Rs. 2.5 million by the Urban Development Authority, Rs. one million each by the Institute of Personnel Management Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education and Saman Industries and Suppliers Pvt., Ltd and Rs. 2 million by the Vocational Training Authority of Sri Lanka made to the Fund.

Additionally, Rs. 5 lakhs by the BASF Lanka Pvt.Ltd., Rs.100,000 by Mr.W.Manjula Botheju resides in Nugegoda, and Rs. 200,000 by Mr. Ranjan De Silva and Rs.60,000 by Sri Lanka Police disabled War Heroes Association donated to the Fund.

All the donations will be credited to the special account opened under the number   85737373 at the Corporate Branch of the Bank of Ceylon. Local as well as foreign donors have made their contributions to the Fund. Donations to COVID – 19 Healthcare and Social Security Fund have been exempted from taxes and foreign exchange regulations. Deposits can be made through cheques or telegraphic transfers.

Further details can be obtained from Mr. K.B. Egodawele, Director General (Administration) of the Presidential Secretariat through the telephone number 011 – 2354479 / 011 – 2354354.

With the view of preserving the foreign currency reserve position of the country, minimizing the existing pressure on the exchange rate and considering the possible negative impact to the Sri Lankan economy due to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, the Minister of Finance, Economic and Policy Developments with the recommendation of the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) and the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers has issued an order imposing several measures on outward remittances on Capital Transactions for a period of three (03) months.

This includes the suspending the general permission granted to make outward remittances for investments overseas through the Outward Investment Accounts by persons resident in Sri Lanka excluding the following; a. investments to be financed out of a foreign currency loan obtained by the investor from a person resident outside Sri Lanka under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Act, or b. investments to be made to fulfill the regulatory requirement in that country.

The second initiative is to suspend the outward remittances through Business Foreign Currency Accounts (BFCAs) or Personal Foreign Currency Accounts (PFCAs) held by persons in, or resident in, Sri Lanka, other than for the remittances on current transactions.

Another measure is to suspend the repatriation of funds under the migration allowance through Capital Transactions Rupee Accounts (CTRAs) by the emigrants who have already claimed migration allowance.

Since the provision of essential foods and rice production, storage and distribution is imperative to ensure food security, services of the owners of all rice mills have been declared an essential service under the COVID – 19 quarantine process.

Rice mills owners of the country must produce rice in their respective areas using paddy stocks in their possession.  Under the instructions of the President, the Secretary to the President P. B. Jayasundara in a letter had informed the Acting Inspector General of Police, the Director General of Health Services, the Commissioner General of Food and the Chairman of the Consumer Affairs Authority to take measures enabling small scale rice mill owners to distribute rice stocks within their respective Divisional Secretariat Divisions, medium scale owners to distribute within the district and large scale owners to distribute in the entire country.

A harvest of around 3 million metric tons of paddy has been reaped by now and the quantity of rice that can be produced is equivalent to 2/3 of that amount. Accordingly, all the relevant parties have been told that increasing the rice prices or hampering the supply of rice pose a major impediment to the effective implementation of quarantine activities.

Accordingly, the Secretary instructs relevant parties to pay more attention and give the highest possible priority to maintain food security during this period when the people have been subjected to some form of quarantine and the food and other essential items are being delivered to the door-step of the people.

The Osu Sala, pharmacies and banking services remain in the category of essential services.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in a special statement urged the general public to render their utmost support to the government’s efforts to save the country from the COVID-19 outbreak.

In his address to the nation, the Premier outlined the measures taken by the government to mitigate the pandemic outbreak and appreciated the sacrifices made by health workers, security forces and other public servants who are on the COVID-19 frontline.

The full speech of the Prime Minister:

“Around the world over 200 countries are fighting against the Coronavirus and it has been seen how thousands of their citizens are being taken to the cemeteries.

Whether we live or die will be determined on how we handle this virus. It will take a lot of commitment and discipline if we are to triumph over this virus.

From the first moment this virus was detected, the President and government acted with great interest in what happens to our people. That is why we sent an aircraft to bring back
the students who were stranded in Wuhan before any other country, when the Coronavirus erupted. By the time they were brought back to the country the quarantine centres were
ready. We very quickly established over 40 quarantine centres around the country to quarantine people who return to the country from overseas. Now these centres can
accommodate thousands for quarantine at any given point. These are not just facilities with accommodation. These centres offer good food, bedding, sanitary facilities and every
detail is attended to including medical attention, even the cup of Kottamalli is given to all those in quarantine during their entire 14 day period.

Those who go to the quarantine centres with sour faces, leave these quarantine centres smiling and happy. This is because they were looked after well and every possible facility
was given to them. We also constructed a special hospital to care for Coronavirus patients in just six days.

In addition, we identified those who were suspected of having contracted the Coronavirus and took measures to quarantine them at their own homes and those who were evading,
our intelligence services were deployed to track them and get them to quarantine centres to save the larger community.

The moment the Coronavirus hit, we closed all schools and universities to safeguard the children from this virus. We were one of the first countries to set up the presidential task
force to deal with the Coronavirus. We also did everything in our power to control the price of goods. There are 416,000 elderly in our country but we provided the payment of
Rs. 5000 to 442,000 elderly persons. Then we had to see to the disabled. There were only 22,000 of the disabled persons who were eligible to receive this payment, but we paid it
to an additional 38,000. We also had to give this payment to 160,000 farmers and 4,600 fisher folk. There were only 25,000 kidney patients on our payment list, but we paid this
amount to even the 13,850 who were on the waiting list. Triposha has been sent to the homes of all pregnant mothers and malnourished children. Recently, 645,000 pensioners were
paid their pensions.

Now as the state institutions are closed due to the virus 1.5 million state sector employees are at home. However, we have already taken steps to pay them their April salaries. We
had planned to recruit 40,000 unemployed graduates, but now we are going to use them for quarantine duties and help them make a living. There are 1.7 million Samurdhi
beneficiaries in the country and another 600,000 on the waiting list. We are taking measures to pay them all the allowance of Rs. 5000.

We also had to think of the around 1.5 million others such as trishaw drivers, school van operators, bur operators etc who are out of work due to the curfew. We have taken steps
to grant them concessions in payment of their leasing etc. We have not passed funds by parliament to do all this. When parliament was convened and we asked for funds the
opposition did not support us. Now what is the point in reconvening parliament?

The whole world knows that the head of the WHO commended our President for the steps taken to control the spread of the Coronavirus. We have already paid over 5 million of
our citizens to help them weather this period. At this point we are focussed on dealing with the crisis at hand and don’t need to be engaging in debates. Despite all the government
income sources being dysfunctional, we are still looking into the best interest of the people.

Our garment trade was hampered as Europe has stopped importing our goods over the pandemic and we used to receive a considerable income from migrant workers in Italy and
the Middle East. But, that too is hampered due to the Coronavirus.

The tourism trade world-wide has taken a hit due to the Coronavirus. Yet, with all the difficulties, we have not refused the people and we have looked after them despite our own
difficulties. We will not give up this fight.

We have taken all decisions without considering politics, religion or race. This is a unique moment when all political parties are committed to working together to defeat the
common enemy, the Coronavirus.

At a time when medical staff of other countries are refusing to attend to the sick due to not having been provided proper personal protection gear. But we are blessed to have
committed medical staff who sew their own masks and come to work to attend to the sick. Out doctors and tri forces personnel are dedicated to attending to the sick and serving
their country leaving their spouses and children at home. We are proud of our people and even the Public Health Inspectors are going house to house identifying and attending to
those infected even risking their own lives. We are all fortunate to live in such a country. Even the efforts of the local government establishments and their staff should be
commended.

The soldiers who sacrificed everything during the war are now giving up their barracks for the quarantine centres to be established and they are sleeping on the cement floors. There
are thousands of young people waiting for an opportunity to serve their country. We are blessed to be born in such a country and as long as we have this compassion among us
we will never be alone.

Hence, we need to triumph over this adversity very soon. Now there is much enthusiasm about growing our own food in our back yards. Our youth are manufacturing the beds
needed for our hospitals. Some are even inventing robots to be deployed in the ICUs. When I see all this I am proud of my country. When all this is over, we will develop our own
industries, grow our own food and develop as a united nation.

We have faced much bigger challenges in the past as a nation and staying indoors for a short period is not something we can’t do. Hence, I appeal to my loving people to please
bear this us and stay indoors for the sake of the country. I am confident that we can overcome this crisis without facing the fate suffered by other countries. We will rise together
not as a developed nation but as a healthy nation.

I wish you all a prosperous future!”