Will swiftly begin talks with IMF, says Dissanayake 

Sri Lanka will swiftly begin talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to take its ongoing programme forward and expedite negotiations with its external creditors for debt relief, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said.

The message, his first televised address to the nation, was aired Wednesday (September 25, 2024) evening.  “The change we seek involves many steps that will take time. However, achieving stability and confidence in the current economy is crucial,” Mr. Dissanayake said, days after he won a crucial national election held two years after the island nation went bankrupt.

Also read: Sri Lankan polls: economy takes centre stage | Explained

While sections have voiced concern over the leftist leader’s possible stance on the country’s ongoing IMF programme, Mr. Dissanayake’s address made clear — as did his poll manifesto — that his government, of the National People’s Power [NPP] alliance, would not steer away from the IMF-led course of economic recovery. All the same, the NPP has said it would renegotiate certain elements of the Fund’s package, especially its austerity measures that ordinary Sri Lankans are struggling to cope with, at a time when high living costs persist, and real incomes have fallen.

Reviewing its Sri Lanka programme in August, the IMF said Sri Lanka’s “knife-edged” recovery was at a critical juncture. “Sustaining the reform momentum and ensuring timely implementation of all program commitments are critical to cement the hard-won economic progress to date and put the economy on a firm footing,” it noted. Following Mr. Dissanayake’s victory in the September 21 presidential election, the Fund said it looked forward to working with his government.

Further, Mr. Dissanayake said in his address that the country needed a Parliament that “accurately reflects” the will of the people. “The existing Parliament does not represent that will. Therefore, I took the step yesterday to dissolve it. A Cabinet was appointed in line with our parliamentary representation,” he said. On Wednesday, Mr. Dissanayake also appointed new Governors to the island’s provinces, which are under Governors’ rule since the provincial councils have remained inactive for over five years.

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