ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka can become a developed nation if it continues on the path that led to recovery from its financial crisis, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said cautioning against abandoning an ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme and debt restructuring efforts.
Wickremesinghe told parliament Wednesday December 13 that he was delighted to address the legislature in the wake of Tuesday night’s announcement by the IMF that it had approved the 333 million US-dollar second tranche of its 2.9 billion dollar extended fund facility following a successful review of the reform programme.
“Today, I’m addressing this assembly with great happiness. The second tranche of the extended fund facility was announced by the IMF a short while ago. They have accepted that we have taken the decisive steps needed to come out of bankruptcy,” said Wickermesinghe.
“I’m humbly happy to have provided leadership to the challenging path that led to this victory. No political leader in this country came forward to take up this bankrupt country. None of the heroes and leaders speaking in parliament today had the courage to come forward. But I accepted that challenge,” he said.
The president recalled that an assurance he had provided upon his appointment as president that he would carry Sri Lanka across a precarious bridge over perilous waters had been ridiculed by his opponents. This was a reference to the Soviet play the Caucasian Chalk Circle written by Bertolt Brecht.
“Some hurled insults, but a majority of MPs in this house supported me, as did the people of the country. Some of the hard decisions taken by me were put up by the people even with difficulty,” said the president.
“Having endured the challenges we faced, we now have the opportunity to save Sri Lanka from bankruptcy. We returned to normal in a shorter period of time than other countries that went bankrupt took to recover,” he added.
Wickremesinghe said that inflation in Sri Lanka which was at 70 percent when he took over had come down to 1.5 percent by October this year, while Treasury bond rates came down from 30 to 13 percent.
“We prevented the collapse of the rupee and brought it to a certain level of stability.”
“There is no path but this. If we follow another path, there is no future for us. I said it then and I say it today. There are two crucial factors on this path: obtaining the support of the IMF, and the restructuring of debt. We achieved both. That bore fruit. If we continue on this path, we can become a developed country. If we break those two down, the country will collapse again,” he said. (Colombo/Dec13/2023)