Central Bank Executive Officers Union has stressed the importance of reaching an agreement with the IMF to save the economy from further collapse.
“We strongly believe that any party that comes to power in the future will not hinder this process of reaching an agreement with the IMF, which is the primary way to save the economy from this calamity”. The Central Bank Executives said in a statement.
While extending support to the People’s Movement held on July 9, they said the present regime was singularly responsible for the economic meltdown.
The statement said
Due to a lack of progressive political vision, weak political leadership and political instability, Sri Lanka has found it difficult to get any kind of financial support from the international community and as a result, the present and future of the entire country are faced with tragic consequences.
Even under such a situation, we believe that the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has taken all possible efforts that are within its scope to prevent the economy from collapsing and will take the necessary policy measures for future developments in the economy. Nevertheless, it must be emphasized that the Central Bank of Sri Lanka alone cannot get the country out of this economic crisis.
In particular, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka cannot find sustainable solutions to the existing economic crisis through monetary policy in isolation, and for that, the government must make necessary structural changes in the fiscal policy and especially when the economy is on the verge of a severe collapse, all relevant economic policies should be implemented with strong coordination between the monetary
and fiscal policy.
Several rounds of technical discussions have been held with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) thus far, and a staff-level agreement is close to being reached.
Also, necessary activities are underway for debt restructuring, which is a prerequisite for an Extended Fund Facility to be obtained from the IMF.
Therefore, we strongly believe that any party that comes to power in the future will not hinder this process of reaching an agreement with the IMF, which is the primary way to save the economy from this calamity.
Furthermore, the IMF has already emphasized that in order to continue the program, political stability must be established in the country very soon. Therefore, we request all the political parties representing the Parliament to act promptly within the existing constitutional provisions and ensure that there is no anarchy in the country.
