No matter what the government says, a situation has arisen where reaching an agreement with the International Monetary Fund at the Board of Directors level will not happen even by March, says 43rd Brigade Leader and Member of Parliament Patali Champika Ranawaka.
“The government said that the discussion with the International Monetary Fund will be completed before December.” That means we have come to an agreement at the staff level. It was said that a board-level agreement would be reached in December. Then they said that it would come in March. According to the signs we have now, there is a situation where the Board of Directors may not approve the IMF package till March.
“An agreement was reached with the financial fund for the 17th time.” Still, there is no hope that it will solve our problems. Maybe we have to go to the IMF for the 18th time.
“Many opinions have been expressed here about debt restructuring.” In particular, I saw that the US Ambassador said that China is disrupting this program. Also, on the 14th, two 182 key people in the world’s economic field signed and released an announcement on Sri Lanka’s debt. Their accusation is that Washington, the United States of America, and other western countries are acting in a very unfair manner, especially regarding the international sovereign bonds we have acquired.
“A group of people from one side are accusing the other side.” That group accuses another side. It seems from both sides that this discussion has not ended properly. “Our belief is that even if this is completed if we do not follow a correct economic process, our problems will not be solved even if the IMF package is approved,” added Patali Champika Ranawaka.