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IMF agreement gives us confidence, grateful to India: Lankan envoy

Published

4 years ago

2022/09/5

Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in New Delhi, Milinda Moragoda, has declared that the preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), under which Sri Lanka could receive $2.9 billion to tackle the ongoing economic crisis, is a “first step” in the long haul of economic recovery, but would provide the country and investors “confidence” to attract increased investments and remittances.. The HC has said so at ‘ The Indian Express Idea Exchange’ programme. The Indian Express quoted Moragoda as having said that with the IMF agreement taking shape, Sri Lanka now expected more countries to offer assistance, while underlining that India was the “only partner” to have stepped up even without a framework in place.

“The key fact here is that having the staff-level agreement gives us confidence. The money is not huge but it gives us confidence — one for investors to come in, maybe for our remittances, which have dropped by half, to increase and…also for other bilaterals, like Japan, to come. We are grateful to India, which encouraged us to go to the IMF. Finance Minister (Nirmala) Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar played a role in that. India was the only country, the only partner, which stepped up without us having any kind of programme,” Moragoda said.

Earlier this year, Sri Lanka, battling the worst economic crisis in its history, had plunged into unprecedented turmoil, with an acute shortage of essentials, such as fuel and medicine, triggering massive protests, which forced Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign as President, a post taken over by Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Following the IMF package, Moragada identified power, oil and tourism as some of the areas where structural reforms, through cooperation with India, can help restore macroeconomic stability. India, he said, can explore developing the port city of Trincomalee as an energy hub.

Asked what the low-hanging fruit was when it came to vital structural reforms, Moragada said: “I would take the electricity sector. I would use the relationship with India, the connectivity grid with India, and bring in private investment in electricity generation. That could mean new power plants in renewable energy, or it could mean buying existing plants, through a privatisation process. I would go as far as to liberalise the last mile distribution, like you have done and use the grid to India to create capacity and export, and also import, if we need it. But I think India can be the catalyst for that, but we need to move quickly.”

Asked if Rajapaksa, who is reportedly in Thailand, plans to return, Moragoda said, “He will return soon, I think, to Sri Lanka.” But the possibility of him finding a place in the country’s political leadership is thin, said Moragoda, who took over as High Commissioner last year. (The interview was conducted just before Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s return to Sri Lanka over the weekend)

“He has to find his place. I don’t think in politics, he should maybe look more at the social side…Former Presidents can be icons. For instance, (US President) Jimmy Carter is known more for what he did after leaving office than what he did while in office,” Moragoda said.

The crisis, however, was long in the making, the politician-turned-diplomat said. He suggesting that the elder Rajapaksa’s technocratic approach could have been a factor behind the crisis, which, he suggested, needed a stronger, more direct political outreach.

“To some extent, the vacuum in this was that the main political parties were not in a position to engage because our President himself is not a politician. Once he was elected, he did not really get involved in politics at all…Politicians felt disengaged from the system altogether. And the economy was crumbling. There was no political way of filling this vacuum. So this whole movement came up,” he said.

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Related Topics:Economic crisis:IMF agreement Milinda Moragoda

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Landslide Early Warnings issued to the Districts of Kurunegala and Ratnapura

Published

1 hour ago

2026/04/23

Priyan

The National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) has issued Landslide Early Warnings to the Districts of Kurunegala and Ratnapura effective from 16:00 hrs on 23.04.2026 To 16:00 hrs on 24.04.2026

Accordingly,

Level 1 landslide early warnings have been issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Rideegama in the Kurunegala district and Kuruwita, Kalawana, Ratnapura, Nivithigala, Pelmadulla and Eheliyagoda in the Ratnapura district.

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Advisory for Severe Lightning issued for the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, North-western, North-central, Southern, Uva provinces, and Ampara and Batticaloa districts

Published

3 hours ago

2026/04/23

Priyan

Advisory for Severe Lightning
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre of the Department of Meteorology
Issued at 12.00 noon 23 April 2026 valid for the period until 11.30 p.m. 23 April 2026

Thundershowers accompanied with severe lightning are likely to occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, North-western, North-central, Southern, Uva provinces, and in Ampara and Batticaloa districts after 1.00 p.m.

There may be temporary localized strong winds during thundershowers. General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by lightning activity.

ACTION REQUIRED:
The Department of Meteorology advises that people should:
• Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.
• Avoid open areas such as paddy fields, tea plantations and open water bodies during thunderstorms.
• Avoid using wired telephones and connected electric appliances during thunderstorms.
• Avoid using open vehicles, such as bicycles, tractors and boats etc.
• Beware of fallen trees and power lines.
• For emergency assistance contact the local disaster management authorities.

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Compensation payments and reconstruction activities related to the Ditwah relief measures must be expedited with special attention at the district level – PM

Published

13 hours ago

2026/04/23

Priyan

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya emphasized that compensation payments and reconstruction activities related to the Ditwah relief measures must be expedited with special attention at the district level. She further stated that all necessary allocations have already been made to Provincial Councils and instructed that the progress of disaster damage assessments and reconstruction efforts be closely monitored at the provincial level.

The Prime Minister made these remarks at a discussion held on Tuesday (21) at Temple Trees under her patronage, aimed at informing Chairpersons of District Coordination Committees and public representatives from disaster-affected districts, in order to accelerate the implementation of the “Rebuilding Sri Lanka” programme. The discussion focused on expediting disaster relief and compensation payments, as well as the swift restoration of infrastructure damaged by the disaster.

The Prime Minister emphasized that Rs. 500 billion has been allocated for damages caused by the Ditwah cyclone, and that all relevant development activities must be completed before the end of 2026. The Prime Minister also instructed officials to pay special attention to resolving issues at the local level that are causing delays in compensation payments.

Senior Additional Secretary to the President, G.M.R.D. Aponsu, stated that the estimated cost for reconstruction following the Ditwah cyclone is approximately USD 3.4 billion. Accordingly, funds have been allocated for compensation across several sectors including housing and social infrastructure, agriculture and livestock, fisheries, industry and livelihoods, and irrigation. He further noted that 99% of the Rs. 25,000 allowance has already been disbursed, while 95% of the Rs. 50,000 resettlement allowance has been paid. Compensation for fully and partially damaged houses is still ongoing, and 99% of temporary relief centres have been closed.

Additionally, attention was drawn to several other measures, including providing Rs. 25,000 to affected schoolchildren, paying Rs. 1 million as compensation for each deceased individual, compensation for children who lost one or both parents, support for persons with disabilities affected by the disaster, compensation for agricultural losses, and expediting resettlement of displaced families. Measures such as allocating land for new housing construction and accelerating the issuance of reports from the National Building Research Organization were also discussed.

Focus was also placed on the reconstruction of affected schools, hospitals, and daycare centres, improving the accuracy and speed of data collection at the local level, and accelerating infrastructure development.

The event was attended by Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure Samantha Vidyarathna, Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government Dr. Chandana Abayarathna, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Namal Karunaratne, Deputy Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperatives R.M. Jayawardena, Deputy Minister of Education Dr. Madhura Senevirathna, Members of Parliament, Chairpersons of District Coordination Committees, Chief of Staff to the President and Commissioner General of Essential Services Prabath Chandrakeerthi, Additional Secretary to the President Jayantha Bandara; and officials of the Prime Minister’s Office.

[Prime Minister’s Media Division]