The Minister of Hosing and Construction Sajith Premadasa said on Wednesday that the government had no option but to increase the VAT due to the debt run up by the previous government, under Mahinda Rajapaksa.

"The Rajapaksa government obtained loans at high interest rates and wasted public funds on projects which had no return while stealing part of it", he said. 

Mr Premadasa said that the estimated cost of the Sooriyawewa international cricket stadium had been Rs. 1,200 million, but it had cost Rs. 4,200 million and questioned what happened to the additional money.

The Sri Lankan navy declared that it has arrested a group of asylum seekers who were attempting to flee the island on the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Tamils in America have called on US authorities to arrest Sri Lanka’s former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, who is currently reported to be visiting the US.

An update on the Ministry of Defence website, which requires approval for foreigners to travel to the North, was made in error, military spokesperson Brigadier Jayantha Jayaweera claimed, according to Ceylonews.

Speaking to the news website, the brigadier said it was a technical mistake.

“The web link which was originally published in 2014 got republished when we transferred the web server. There is no travel restriction for anybody to travel north whatsoever,” Brigadier Jayaweera told Ceylon News via phone.

He said that the technical team has been informed to deactivate the link as soon as possible.

The European Commission on Thursday delisted Sri Lanka over illegal fishing, following reforms.

"After a lengthy dialogue process Sri Lanka has now successfully reformed its fisheries governance system," the EU commission said in a statement.

"The country was issued with a yellow card in 2012 and been listed by the Council in February 2015. By today it has amended its legal framework, strengthened sanctions and improved its fleet control."

The UK Foreign Office in its annual human rights report, reported that positive steps made by the new Sri Lankan government were "less apparent in the north and east", highlighting the "continued reports of torture, and sexual and gender-based violence" documented in the OHCHR report.

The Sri Lankan cabinet on Thursday approved the increase of basic salary for state sector employees by Rs 10,000.

The increase will affect employees of companies fully owned by the government, public corporations and statutory boards.

The proposal was tabled by the Minister of Finance, Ravi Karunanayake, Colombo Page reported.