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‘China’s stand may deprive Sri Lanka of USD 2.9 bn from IMF in early 2023’
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PRIYAN DE SILVA
Executive Director of the Centre of Policy Alternatives (CPA) Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu told journalists and Civil Society Activists at a workshop held in Kandy that China’s unwillingness to accept the proposed debt restructuring might deprive Sri Lanka of the US$ 2.9 billion credit facility, from the IMF.
The staff-level agreement is to be implemented only after the countries that Sri Lanka are indebted to, namely Japan, China, India and the European Union, agree on how the debt is to be restructured.
Dr Saravanamuttu said the IMF expected every creditor to be treated equally which China has refused to accept. China was not happy that Sri Lanka had approached the IMF and have even offered to provide more loans to Sri Lanka, he said.
The CPA Executive Director said that if the Chinese agreed to restructure debt, then the IMF would release US$ 2.9billion by January or February 2023 but if the Chinese did not agree, Sri Lanka would have to wait until the IMF board meets again in March 2023. He said that Sri Lanka would need 850 million US$ to pay for essentials during this period.
Dr. Saravanamuttu said that citizens of this country should not blame the politicians alone for the mess that the country was in, as it is the people who put them there, gave them the power and allowed them to abuse it. He reiterated that the people had a great responsibility to see that the situation changes for the better.
Speaking about the Aragalaya, Dr. Saravanamuttu said that various groups had got together to demand that the Rajapaksas go home and return the money that they stole from the country. He pointed out that even though they had got rid of the Rajapaksas they did not have any idea how to recover the country’s plundered wealth or what type of governance that the country ought to have.
He said that even though mass protests had taken place all over the world, the political elite or the military had returned to power.
The National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) has issued landslide early warnings to Kandy, Kegalle and Nuwara Eliya Districts.
Accordingly level I landslide early warnings have been issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions of Pasbage Korale in the Kandy District, Yatiyanthota and Deraniyagala in the Kegalle District and Ambagamuwa in the Nuwara Eliya District.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe convened a discussion at the Presidential Secretariat on Thursday afternoon (08) to address the Action Plan for Reconciliation and instructed the relevant departments to expedite the drafting of legislation necessary for the plan’s implementation.
The progress of initiatives within five key areas -legislation, institutional activities, land issues, prisoner release, and power decentralization, was also reviewed.
The discussion encompassed several important topics including the implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), the establishment of a National Land Council and the formulation of a National Land Policy.
Additionally, the President emphasized the need for enhanced operations of the Office of Missing Persons (OMP), including digitization efforts and the issuance of Certificates of Absence for individuals who had previously disappeared without trace.
In an effort to accelerate trade facilitation commitments and bolster the business landscape in Sri Lanka, a high-level review of the National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC) was conducted at the Presidential Secretariat on Wednesday (7).
The review focused on assessing the progress of trade facilitation commitments and scrutinizing the performance of the NTFC Secretariat. The private sector also voiced their views on expediting actions to ensure the completion of measures ahead of the projected timeline of 2025-2030.
In order to streamline compliance and optimize performance, several directives were issued during the meeting. Firstly, it was decided to establish the NTFC Secretariat under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance. Secondly, immediate measures to be taken to address the staffing requirements of the Secretariat and lastly, the budget allocated for the NTFC Secretariat in 2023, currently under the Department of Customs, was to be transferred to the Ministry of Finance to prioritize pending actions such as the development of the NTFC website and progress reporting system.
During the meeting, deliberations took place concerning the proposed National Single Window, a system aimed at simplifying and expediting trade processes. The participants agreed to expedite the submission of the proposal in a sequential manner to ensure its swift implementation.
Landslide Early Warnings issued to Kandy, Kegalle and Nuwara Eliya Districts
Expedite Action Plan for Reconciliation – President
National Trade Facilitation Committee Secretariat to be established
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