by Sanath Nanayakkare

A future UNP government could garner the support of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to raise funds to honour the country’s debt repayment commitments, without causing any disruption to the economy, UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said, at Mattegoda, last Saturday (01).

“The IMF has helped the UNP governments in the past to resolve balance of payment issues and effectively restore Sri Lanka’s economy during dire times, including the Easter Sunday bomb attacks. I am confident that the international lender will provide its much needed support to a UNP government, with loans on affordable terms because it knows that we do not compromise our sound economic policies and revenue-based fiscal consolidation programmes.”

The UNP leader said: “Our priority will be mitigating the negative impact of Covid-19 on diverse segments of the economy; from three-wheeler drivers to wage-earning workforce to self-employed people and small and medium entrepreneurs. The Covid-19 public health crisis has weighed heavily on economic activity, employment and inflation and poses considerable risks to the economic outlook in the near-to-medium term. The level of economic activity has drastically slowed down as consumers fear for their future. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, about five million people have lost their jobs and a similar number of jobs are at risk. Thousands of people have experienced pay-cuts and reduction of their allowances. Employers are not hireing job seekers. Many people can’t pay their house rents, utility bills and payback their loans.

“Hence today everyone is thinking about their financial problems more than the parliamentary election because that’s very important to them. When I was Prime Minister I adopted a revenue-based fiscal consolidation strategy to increase government income at the risk of growing public displeasure. At that time, the government earned Rs 150,000 million as revenue. In July 2020, it declined to Rs. 50,000 million. Our public servants’ pensions alone require Rs. 90,000 million and the government had to borrow to meet pension payments among other things. How long can we go on like this?

“During the Yahapalana government, we struck a certain balance between our income and expenditure and obtained support from bilateral and multilateral lending agencies for economic development. In 2018/19 we were able to have a surplus in our primary account.

“Today, the country’s stressed external liquidity position remains a credit weakness. Sri Lanka has not been able to get IMF funds despite having made three requests to them. Pakistan and Bangladesh have received funds from the IMF, and there should be no reason why Sri Lanka can’t access their funds. The UNP has presented a new three-year economic framework to face the challenges in the future which would boost confidence of the international lending agencies in our macroeconomic prudence and post-pandemic recovery path going forward. International funding will help strengthen the rupee. More exports and foreign remittances will bring in more money into the country. Through that strategy we will put more money into consumers’ wallets and increase their spending power. If current liquidity issues continue, the exchange rate of the rupee will hover around Rs. 195-Rs. 200 by October. In such a context, there will be more severe import controls and smartphones, electric and electronic goods will not be available in the market. Commodity prices will go up and life will be more difficult six months from now. Our new economic programme is capable of addressing such fiscal and external challenges. I urge you to consider the looming threats of these issues as you go to cast your vote on August 5.”