10 October 2022 01:14 am Views - 101
By Lakmal Sooriyagoda
A public interest litigation has been filed in Supreme Court seeking an order directing the authorities to disclose the details of the Agreements entered with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to the parliament.
Ven. Pahiyangala Ananda Sagara Thera and social activist Ravi Kumudesh have filed this petition naming Central Bank Governor Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Treasury Secretary K. M. M. Siriwardana, Monetary Board of Central Bank, former Finance Minister Ali Sabry and Attorney General as respondents. This petition is to be taken up for support today (10).
The petitioners state that on September 01, 2022, the IMF authorities announced that IMF staff and the Sri Lankan authorities have reached a staff-level agreement to support Sri Lanka’s economic policies with a 48-month arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of about US$ 2.9 billion.
The petitioners stated that information regarding this agreement has been kept away from even the Legislature, which is the only institution the People have vested their power of the “Public Purse” and they are advised that it is unconstitutional and illegal to do so.
The petitioners state that they have demanded details of these agreements under the Right to Information Act, which they have not received to date.
The Petitioners further state that on or around April 12, 2022, the Ministry of Finance announced that it had decided to default on its sovereign foreign debt with immediate effect. This purported decision was announced by the Central Bank together with and Treasury Secretary, mandated by the then Minister Ali Sabry. They said there was no approval sought from the Parliament prior to this decision.
They further alleged that the default on the repayment of foreign debts led to the relegation of Sri Lanka to a status of an ‘insolvent nation’ and this has plunged Sri Lanka into economic and financial isolation as a bankrupt nation.