Saudi Arabia which imposed a ban on Sri Lankan labour last Sunday will decide today whether to continue it – a decision which could affect some 50,000 workers, mostly housemaids, who seek employment in the kingdom annually. At present there are more than 500,000 Sri Lankan workers in Saudi Arabia, half of them housemaids. They generate an annual revenue of more than one billion US dollars, according to Faizer Mackeen, Secretary of the Association for Licensed Foreign Employment Agencies (ALFEA).

The Government has decided that state-sector employees, including the security forces, will not be allowed to work beyond 60 years of age, Public Administration Minister John Seneviratne said yesterday. The move would mean that as estimated 12,000 public servants who reach the age of 60 this year will not be able to continue in service after December 31.