Sri Lanka appoints advisory panel to help resolve growing debt crisis engage with IMF
Colombo, Apr 7: The Sri Lankan government has appointed an advisory committee comprising eminent economic and fiscal experts to provide guidance on addressing the current debt crisis and engaging with the IMF and other lenders as the country struggles to combat the unprecedented shortage of foreign reserves.
The Presidential Advisory Group on Multilateral Engagement and Debt Sustainability includes Indrajit Coomaraswamy, former governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and former director of the Economic Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat, according to a statement issued by the President Media Division on Wednesday.
The other members are Shanta Devarajan, Professor of the Practice of Development, Georgetown University and former chief economist of World Bank; and Sharmini Coorey, former director of the Institute of Capacity Development of the IMF Institute, and former deputy director of the Africa Department, IMF.
"Among the responsibilities that the Presidential Advisory Group will undertake are to engage in discussions with relevant Sri Lankan institutions and officials engaging with the IMF, and to provide guidance that will address the present debt crisis and lead towards sustainable and inclusive recovery for Sri Lanka," the statement said.
Rajapaksa
is
yet
to
appoint
a
new
minister
of
finance.
The
country's
Finance
Minister
Ali
Sabry
on
Tuesday
resigned,
a
day
after
President
Gotabaya
Rajapaksa
appointed
him
after
sacking
his
brother
Basil
Rajapaksa
amidst
the
island
nation's
worst
economic
crisis.
Basil
Rajapaksa
was
fired
as
he
was
planning
to
visit
Washington
to
hold
negotiations
with
the
International
Monetary
Fund
(IMF).
A government parliamentary group met with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday to discuss urgent steps that must be taken to improve the situation so that citizens would no longer need to stand in long queues for fuel, gas and essentials, Shehan Semasinghe, a state minister, said.
He
asserted
that
the
government
has
not
lost
its
parliamentary
majority
despite
42
of
its
members
saying
they
would
remain
independent
of
the
ruling
SLPP
coalition
in
parliament.
"Our
majority
is
solid,"
Semasinghe
said.
Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, Chief Government Whip Johnston Fernando said the government will face this problem and there is no reason for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign as he was elected to office.
"As a responsible Government, we state that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will not resign from his post under any circumstances," Fernando said.
Sri Lankans have protested for weeks over lengthy power cuts and shortages of gas, food and other basic goods. The public anger has prompted nearly all Cabinet ministers to quit, and scores of lawmakers to leave Rajapaksa's government.
Meanwhile, police said they are planning to deploy a special security arrangement for key locations such as the President's House, Presidential Secretariat, Prime minister's residence-cum-office and Parliament in view of the growing public protests over the country's worst economic crisis.
Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since gaining independence from the UK in 1948.
An Indian credit line in a special economic relief package has only provided a temporary solution.
India
had
recently
announced
to
extend
a
USD
1
billion
line
of
credit
to
Sri
Lanka
as
part
of
its
financial
assistance
to
the
country
to
deal
with
the
economic
crisis
following
a
previous
USD
500
billion
line
of
credit
in
February
to
help
it
purchase
petroleum
products.
The
Indian
High
Commission
on
Wednesday
announced
the
arrival
of
two
more
shipments
of
fuel
to
Colombo
under
the
Indian
credit
line.
"Total supply of various types of fuel under Indian assistance now stands at more than 270,000 MT," it said.