Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy predicted that economic growth on the island would be just 4 percent for 2018, lower than previous estimates.

“This is not a formal estimate that I am giving you,” he told reporters, but if one is realistic, it is unlikely that growth will be more than 4 percent this year”.

“Our potential growth rate, we see as being 5.75 percent. So, there is a significant output gap,” he added. 

There has been a reported increased security presence in Tirumala, an Indian town in Andhra Pradesh, as Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visited a Hindu temple on Friday.

“Tight security was in place in the entire temple and its precincts,” reports The Hindu as Mr Wickremesinghe visited as part of a reported “20-hour spiritual visit”. He was flown in from Chennai by an Indian Air Force helicopter.

Survivors of the 1995 Navaly church bombing, where the Sri Lankan air force killed over 140 Tamil civilians in an attack on The Church of St Peter, have continued to call for justice 23 years after the massacre reports the Union of Catholic Asian News.

The parish president of the church, Father Roy Fernandez, told ucanews.com that "Hindus and Catholics come here every year with photographs of the ones they lost.”

Father S.V.B. Mangalaraja, director of the Commission for Justice and Peace in Jaffna Diocese stated that "the government has denied responsibility for the bombing".

The Sri Lankan president reiterated that he would not let "betray" the country or let anyone "divide it", speaking today at an event in Manampitiya. 

Criticising a Joint Opposition rally held yesterday, Mr Sirisena was quoted by Adaderana as saying that "the slogans used at the rally, which demanded not to betray the country and war heroes, divide and subjugate the country through foreign trade agreements, were outdated". 

The Sri Lankan Central Bank said today that it had secured a US$ 1 billion loan from China, with the first half of the loan to be released this month and the remainder to be transferred in October. 

The loan is over an 8 year period at an interest of 5.25 percent following a three year grace period. 

"During consultations it was clear that they [Chinese government] see us as a key strategic partner as far as the [Belt and Road] initiative is concerned, given our location," the Central Bank governor, Indrajit Coomaraswamy told reporters in Colombo. 

The Commonwealth Secretary General, Patricia Scotland who is currently on a four day official visit of the island, met with the TNA leader R Sampanthan today. 

Highlighting the ongoing situation of the Tamil people, a TNA press statement said that Mr Sampanthan had told her that although the armed conflict had ended the Tamil people did not have true peace. 

Mr Sampanthan also drew attention to the families of the disappeared demonstrating for the whereabouts of their missing loved ones and the military's ongoing occupation of private lands in the North-East. 

Presenting the UK's 2017 FCO human rights report to parliament last week the UK's minister of state for the Commonwealth and the UN at the FCO, Lord Ahmad, reiterated the need to ensure justice and accountability for human rights violations committed globally and announced the UK would be hosting a follow-up summit on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict next year. 

The report, which noted that "limited progress" had been made on human rights in Sri Lanka and that reports of torture and surveillance by security forces persisted, looked at the human rights situation in countries in 2017. 

US Naval Special Warfare Forces took part in a Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) exercise with the Sri Lankan military at a navy base in Trincomalee last month, as military relations between the two government continues to grow.

The Mannar district is to be developed into a tourism hub, according to Sri Lanka’s Tourism Minister, Xinhua reports.

The Minister said that officials from the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority would be sent to the district to evaluate how attractions should be conserved and the district developed for tourism.

Attractions such as Adam's Bridge, the Wilpattu National Park, the Madhu Church, Hindu Temples, colonial architecture, marine resources, Mannar culture and the baobab tree would be promoted, the Minister said and the government would work on improving basic infrastructure and increasing investor interest.

The international animal rights organisation PETA has urged tourists to avoid Sri Lanka’s elephant attractions, including the famous state-run Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage and celebrations of the Buddhist festival of Esala.