Wednesday May 01, 2024
Wednesday May 01, 2024
Thursday, 14 March 2024 05:33 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Dr. Harsha de Silva
Kabir Hashim
Eran Wickramaratne
By Darshana Abayasingha
The Main Opposition, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), reminded that any agreement the President or the Government enters with external creditors must be honoured by any new Government and President. Addressing a media briefing in Colombo yesterday, the SJB said it is imperative for the President to engage Opposition parties with respect to the Government’s plans with creditors.
Colombo District SJB MP Dr. Harsha De Silva, said, “Whatever Government that comes into power is obliged to pay the loan as agreed to by President Ranil Wickremasinghe. If any group fails to do so, then we default for a second time and we will all have to suffer again. If Wickremasinghe is President for a longer period that’s a different conversation, but we hope to form the next Government over the next few months. That is why as a responsible Opposition we stated there must be discussions and buy-in from all parties concerned. There must be a cohesive policy.”
De Silva also stressed the Government must enter discussions with external commercial creditors at earliest, amidst threats they would block the next tranche of the IMF disbursement. Over $ 17 billion is due to commercial creditors, but there seems to be slow progress on discussions as an NDA is yet to be signed in that respect. He noted the Government had rejected a proposal based on macro-level bonds due to the upside to creditors, and a new proposal is reportedly on the table though its contents and progress are unknown.
De Silva and SJB MP Eran Wickremaratne, also took on statements made by economists attached to the JVP who had stated there is no need to pay odious debt that includes money stolen from loans. Whilst there has certainly been pilferage, De Silva questioned how party plans to abscond from making these payments, and questioned why the same JVP members did not state such intention when they met with creditors during a recent closed-doors meeting. He also noted that in contrast the JVP party leader had recently stated that a Government under their purview will pay off all the loans.
Wickremeratne alluded to comments made by the JVP economists who had stated that borrowings between 2015 and 2019 holds the brunt of the debt burden. Wickremaratne who was State Minister of Finance at the time said 90% of these loans had been utilised to service debt and interest of borrowing over the previous 20 years during the Rajapaksa regime. The MP said there were reserves of $ 5.6 billion when power was handed over in 2019, and the Rajapkasa Government brought it to zero in 1.5 years. He invited the JVP for a fact-based public debate on these matters.
MP Kabir Hashim noted that Sri Lankans haven’t had the opportunity to enjoy a prosperous Sinhala and Tamil New year since 2019, and signs are that it will be the same this year due to the exorbitant price of rice due to Government inaction and mismanagement.
“If the economy is managed properly the price of rice should have come down. The Minister of Trade said in December they will import 50,000MT of Keeri Samba, because prices could go up by April this year, and this measure was necessary to control prices. We know at least 25,000MT of that quantity has come. We had a bumper harvest during the Maha season as stated by the Ministry and the Department of Agriculture. So, if all these are there in place then the price of rice should come down. But this doesn’t seem to be happening. Is this a problem of management or something to do with the rice mafia? In December a kilo of Keeri Samba was Rs. 245, and now it’s Rs. 355 or more. Normal samba that was Rs. 220 is now Rs. 263, and Nadu which was Rs. 190 is now Rs. 219. Who is making this profit? It is the responsibility of the Government to look into this and manage the policy. The SJB has put forth a plan for it. Clearly the Government has none, nor the other parties.”
