The International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout discussions with Sri Lanka will resume in August, the country’s new president announced, urging lawmakers to form an all-party administration to address the country’s worst economic crisis in 70 years.
These statements were delivered by President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday as he opened a new session of the parliament.
Talks between Wickremesinghe and the IMF have been aimed at securing a four-year rescue program that may provide up to $3 billion. He informed the parliament that the talks were progressing but he did not give a timeline for when a deal would be finalized.
Wickremesinghe indicated he will comply with a key demand of the protestors who ousted Rajapaksa by saying constitutional modifications were necessary to limit presidential powers.
He declared that a president does not have to be elevated above the people to the status of a king or deity as he or she is also a citizen.
The president urged all parties in parliament to support his plan for a “unity government,” claiming that the only way out of the issue was “if we all face this challenge together as one nation.”
He also said that in order to reduce public debt and create a competitive export economy, his government is developing a national policy roadmap for the next 25 years.
Wickremesinghe predicted that if we use national economic policy to develop the country, the nation, and the economy, we will be able to reach full development, when we celebrate our 100th anniversary of independence in 2048.
The 22 million-people island nation is experiencing its biggest financial crisis since gaining independence from Britain in 1948, with its foreign exchange reserves at all-time lows, the COVID-19 pandemic hitting the economy, and a sharp decline in government revenue.
Hundreds of thousands of people rushed to the streets in early July, outraged by ongoing shortages of basic necessities like petrol and medicine and skyrocketing inflation of more than 60% year over year, leading Rajapaksa to first flee the country and then resign from office.
However, many people continue to doubt Wickremesinghe and charge that he is trying to safeguard the former president and his family.
His government cracked down on protests, and a number of its organizers have been detained on trespassing and property damage charges. Armed troops beat assaulted protestors as they removed protest camps that had been built up in front of the president’s office.
He promised to defend peaceful protestors and to set up an office to deal with complaints about injustice.
