Harsha rejects fresh calls to suspend debt repayments

• Warns Sri Lanka risks losing market access after Cyclone Ditwah
• Accuses senior figures in Govt. for reversing their public positions on DSA post-elections, claiming they sold a sham to win votes
• Asserts credit ratings essential for accessing international borrowing, particularly for climate adaptation and reconstruction

THE main opposition party, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Dr. Harsha de Silva yesterday strongly criticised renewed calls to suspend Sri Lanka’s external sovereign debt repayments following Cyclone Ditwah, warning that such a move would jeopardise the country’s fragile recovery, undermine investor confidence, and derail access to climate financing needed for long-term reconstruction.

His remarks, shared via X, came after a group of 121 prominent international economists and academics urged Sri Lanka to immediately suspend external debt payments, arguing that the country’s latest IMF-backed debt restructuring leaves it dangerously exposed to climate-driven disasters.

Dr. de Silva framed the proposal as a repetition of arguments made during the 2022 crisis, when similar calls were used politically to oppose engagement with the International Monetary Fund.

“This is a 2022 rerun,” he said, noting that the same “intellectual ammunition” had previously been deployed by the now-ruling NPP to attack the IMF program. “Now? The silence is deafening,” he added, suggesting that those who once championed such ideas have abandoned them after assuming power.

He accused senior figures in the current administration of reversing their public positions on debt sustainability analysis (DSA) after elections, arguing that earlier promises to “re-do” Sri Lanka’s restructuring were unrealistic. 

“Let’s call it what it was: a lie,” Dr. de Silva said, naming Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma and Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando who had been vocal critics of the IMF framework while in opposition. 

“Now in power, they’ve abandoned those theories because they know they are impractical. They sold a sham to win votes,” he claimed.

Dr. de Silva argued that this shift exposes a deeper political contradiction. “In Opposition, they told people restructuring was a ‘trap’. In Government, they are following the same path they once condemned,” he said, adding that this amounted to a betrayal of the ideological platform used to gain public support rather than the promised “system change”.

On Cyclone Ditwah, the Opposition MP stressed that post-disaster recovery must go beyond short-term repairs. “Rebuilding isn’t enough,” he said, reiterating comments he had previously made in Parliament. “We can’t just fix ‘broken windows’. We need climate-resilient infrastructure. This requires massive financing for the State and the private sector,” he added.

Such an approach, he argued, requires large-scale financing that is only possible if Sri Lanka maintains credibility with international markets. 

“To get that funding, we must stay the course,” Dr. de Silva said, warning that deviating from the agreed reform and debt-restructuring framework would have serious consequences. “If we don’t stay on track, we will lose market access and credit rating upgrades,” he pointed out. 

He said that credit ratings are essential for accessing international borrowing, particularly for climate adaptation and reconstruction. “Without a credit rating, we can’t borrow to rebuild,” Dr. de Silva said, cautioning that suspending debt repayments outside an agreed framework could isolate Sri Lanka financially at a time when climate resilience investment is most urgent.