The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) decision to release the second tranche of the Extended Fund Facility to Sri Lanka and the IMF’s agreement on debt restructuring can be seen as a big step towards Sri Lanka’s economic stability, former Kelaniya University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Sunanda Madduma Bandara said.
He further stated that at the IMF at a meeting held on Tuesday has decided to release the second tranche of Extended Fund Facility amounting to US$ 337 million. At the same time, approval have also been given to debt restructuring agreements that Sri Lanka has made with the Official Creditors Committee and the Export-Import Bank of China.
The Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, Kenji Okamura, made an announcement in this regard stating that the changes made to Sri Lanka’s macroeconomic policies have started to bear fruits and significant progress has been made in terms of controlling inflation, fiscal adjustment, and reserve building.
Professor Madduma Bandara said that the IMF’s decision can be seen as a step taken by Sri Lanka to recover the country from bankruptcy.
“President Ranil Wickremesinghe addressing Parliament stated that the steps, he has taken to recover the country have been successful and everyone should work together to ensure it further.
Many countries that went bankrupt had to face a very difficult situation and the people of those countries had to experience an extremely oppressive life.
Nevertheless, it is a gratifying situation that the necessary steps have been taken to correct, stabilize, and re-enter the development path of the economy while controlling pressure on the public to a significant degree.
The public and the business community also had to make many commitments to in this regard. Through the success achieved, it is clear that the country has reached an opportunity to achieve high economic growth gradually by reducing the pressure imposed on the people.The statement made by President Ranil Wickremesinghe in this regard in Parliament yesterday (13) is very important and it is clear that the government has taken the right approach to get the country out of this crisis, he further emphasised.
