Petition seeking an order to reveal Int’l Monetary Fund deal fixed for support

By Lakmal Sooriyagoda 

A public interest litigation filed seeking an order directing the authorities to disclose the details of the agreements entered with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to Parliament was yesterday fixed for support by the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court three-judge bench, comprising Justices S. Thurairaja, Yasantha Kodagoda and Mahinda Samayawardena, fixed the petition for support on November 4. Ven. Pahiyangala Anandasagara Thera and social activist Ravi Kumudesh had filed this petition naming Central Bank Governor Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, Treasury Secretary K.M.M. Siriwardana, the Monetary Board of the Central Bank, former Finance Minister Ali Sabry and Attorney General as respondents. The petitioners state that on September 1, 2022, the IMF authorities announced that the IMF staff and 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 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 Finance Ministry 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 the Treasury Secretary, mandated by then Minister Ali Sabry. They said there was no approval sought from 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.