PIC BY KITHSIRI DE MEL

By Yohan Perera   

IMF is not an ordinary money lender and one cannot deal with it like the way you deal with an ordinary money lender, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday.   

“Some people think I am giving into IMF. One cannot beg the IMF like how you beg from a village money lender,” the President said speaking during a function held at UNP headquarters Sirikotha.   

“One has to remember that IMF will not assist us if we violate the agreement with them. This is why we have decided to introduce the Economic Transformation Bill. Economic Transformation Bill is essential to give legal provisions for economic reforms which Sri Lanka has to undertake. The Bill will provide provisions to maintain Sri Lankan’s debt service to 95 percent GDP and to maintain a steady economic growth of 5 percent by 2027 and then increase it up to 10 percent thereafter.” he said.   

“Sri Lanka has to pay its debt which had come to $ 83 billion. We have asked for time till 2027 to 2042 to repay these debts,” he added.   

The President recalled that he and his party predicted the economic downfall in 2020 but no one believed him. “We said the economy was going to fall in 2020. Also we said Sri Lanka needs foreign reserves worth $ 3 billion to avoid this. We had to seek India’s support and we were given $ 3 billion. We would not have needed this support had we managed to maintain foreign reserves,” he also said.