Ranil predicts dollar to be Rs. 300 by year end 

UNP Leader and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday predicted that the value of the rupee will increase to Rs. 300 against the dollar by end of the year.

In a statement regarding the risk faced by the country, the former Prime Minister and MP said the true value of the dollar in the market is over Rs. 250 at present.

“The economy is still deteriorating. The dollar deficit has not been resolved. The rupee deficit has not been resolved yet. Today the real value of the rupee is actually Rs. 250 to the dollar. Even more so. This way it can go up to Rs. 275. If we do not stop there, it will reach Rs. 300 before the end of the year,” he said.

The middle class is facing hardship, many are being pushed down the economic ladder and lives are hard. The agriculture sector has been destroyed. Small and big businessmen are unable to procure goods to do their work. This is the problem faced by the citizens. 

He also said Sri Lanka has to repay the foreign loans by the first half. 

“We have a total of $ 6 billion to repay this year. We have not yet discussed the situation with the IMF. So, we have to find the money to repay the loans in June and July. New problems are continuing to arise and this is why the banking system has been abandoned,” he warned.

Wickremesinghe said under Article 4 of the IMF’s Constitution, each member State is required to discuss and report on its economic situation once a year. The IMF team arrived in Sri Lanka last December. 

“We know that the report will be presented next week and it should be presented to Parliament.”

Once it is presented, a debate must be held to put forth proposals in the report. 

“We have to have a plan for the future. We also need a short-term plan, as well as a medium to long term plan to take this forward. We need to have an economic framework that we agree on which will help implement these plans,” Wickremesinghe said.