President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that the he is determined to take tough decisions to find a solution to the suffering of the people these days and appealed to have faith in the decisions he makes in this regard.
Addressing the nation through the media at 8.30 pm tonight, the President said that he was aware of the plight of the people these days due to fuel shortages, gas shortages and power shortages and that he would take responsibility for many of these tragedies that were out of his control.
The President further stated that an Economic Council has been appointed to look into the current economic problems and an Advisory Council has been appointed for this purpose. President Rajapaksa said that he was constantly monitoring the decisions taken by them and urged the people to have faith in this so that problems could be resolved in the future.
Commenting on the current foreign exchange crisis, he said that the estimated gross export earnings for 2022 would be $ 12 billion and the import expenditure would be $ 22 billion. In addition, the country has a trade deficit of US $ 9.4 billion this year in terms of existing foreign debt liabilities. It said it aims to reduce it to US $ 2.4 million.
The President further stated that he has decided to seek the assistance of the International Monetary Fund and hopes to work with it in the future.
I am determined to to take tough decisions – Have a faith on them – The President
