US state department and Indian officials to arrive in SL to assess economic situation

Colombo, June 23 (Representative) Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday in a special statement in parliament said that officials from the US Department of Treasury and India will visit Sri Lanka on Thursday to discuss the economic situation in the country. “Next Monday, a team of representatives from the US Department of the Treasury will also arrive in Sri Lanka,” he said. Noting that the country is now facing a far more serious situation beyond the mere shortages of fuel, gas, electricity, and food, the premier said noting that the economy has faced a complete collapse. “That is the most serious issue before us today. These issues can only be resolved through the reviving of the Sri Lankan economy. To do this, we must first resolve the foreign reserves crisis faced by us. “ It is no easy task to revive a country with a completely collapsed economy, he said. A top-level Indian government delegation led by Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran will arrive in Sri Lanka on Thursday on a special aircraft to assess the ground situation here in pursuit of further economic assistance, officials said.

The delegation will stay in the country only for three hours and hold talks with both President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe. The island nation’s petroleum distributor, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation is in debt to the tune of US$ 700 million. “As a result, no country or organisation in the world is willing to provide fuel to us. They are even reluctant to provide fuel for cash,” Wickremasinghe said in his parliamentary address. We have taken loans amounting to USD 4 billion under the Indian credit line, he went on to say noting that the country has requested more loan assistance from India but even India will not be able to continuously support us in this manner. “Even their assistance has its limits. On the other hand, we too must have a plan to repay these loans. These are not charitable donations.” On Monday, the main IMF team arrived in Sri Lanka and the talks with the group will continue for the next several days. “We have concluded the initial discussions and we have exchanged ideas on various sectors such as public finance, finance, debt sustainability, stability of the banking sector, and the social security network.

Representatives of the financial and legal advisory firms Lazard and Clifford Chance are now in Sri Lanka to assist us in our debt restructuring efforts. The framework for debt repayment restructuring is being formulated,” the premier informed the parliament. He said that next Monday, a team of representatives from the US Department of the Treasury will also arrive in Sri Lanka. “We intend to enter into an official level agreement with the IMF by the end of July. Here the most important is our debt restructuring plan. We will together with the teams from Lazard and Clifford Chance do our utmost to complete the framework for this plan before the end of July. Considering this planned framework and the official level agreement it is expected that the Executive Board of the IMF will then arrive at its final decision.” Parallel to this, a credit aid conference which will be led by India, Japan, and China, will be organised by the government. “We are also currently holding discussions with the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, the United States, other friendly nations, and heads of state to secure interim short-term loans till we receive IMF support,” the premier added. Currently, Sri Lanka needs USD 550 million to meet its monthly fuel needs.