Cabinet greenlight for DDR

By Kelum Bandara 

The Cabinet, at a special session conducted yesterday, cleared the government’s Domestic Debt Restructuring (DDR) programme to be implemented as proposed by the Finance Ministry, Daily Mirror learns.  

The government has already initiated the process of restructuring its external debts in accordance with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme. However, it has now only secured clearance from the Cabinet to forge ahead with the DDR plan.  

By the end of last year, Sri Lanka’s total debt component, both domestic and external, stood at US $ 83 billion. It accounted for 128 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). President Ranil Wickremesinghe said earlier that depositors would not get affected by the implementation of DDR. He also said it would not affect the stability of the banking system and various funds as the Employees Provident Fund.   
The president called for the special Cabinet meeting ye

sterday, in addition to the usual weekly meeting on Monday, to brief the ministers on the DDR and get approval to move ahead with the plan which was endorsed unanimously.   

A special parliamentary session will also be conducted during the weekend to debate the DDR before approval. The president has requested all the MPs to be present in the country during the period.