IMF reps to pay courtesy visit next week – By Uditha Kumarasinghe
Source : sundayobserver
The third review of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program will continue after the new Government takes office in November. Prior to that there will be a courtesy visit by IMF representatives next week.
Senior Advisor to the President on Economic Affairs and Finance, Prof. Anil Jayantha told the Sunday Observer yesterday that the Government had held an initial discussion on the current status of the IMF program on Tuesday (September 24) and Wednesday (September 25). Since we are a new Government, we sought an update from the IMF.
Prof. Jayantha said as a result of those discussions, the IMF representatives will pay a courtesy visit next week. Most probably, the IMF review can be done this year.
The success of the IMF agreement: most of the measures recommended by them can be achieved easily by the Government.
He said, “We want to eliminate corruption. We are ready to implement these IMF recommendations as fast as possible. With that the credibility of the Government and credit ratings will go up. Now we can see some signs such as Bloomberg and others saying that the credit worthiness of Sri Lanka is gradually improving.”
Prof. Jayantha said after President Anura Kumara Dissanayake assumed office, he had outlined how we were going to deal with the IMF. An agreement has been already reached with the IMF. Whether we like it or not, we can’t change it now. If we change it, stabilisation would be impacted and we have to accept that agreement.
However, with the agreement, the IMF has given us certain indicators and benchmarks. The issue is how do we meet these benchmarks without passing on an unnecessary burden on the poor people? The previous regime passed on the entire burden to the poor people. So, we have a different plan to consolidate revenue by giving some relief to the poor people and expanding the economy with alternative plans, he said.
Prof. Jayantha said the Government will negotiate ways and means to meet the IMF targets and benchmarks and that would be possible. We have already achieved certain targets. The other targets can be achieved quickly and it won’t be a problem. Even the Managing Director of the IMF had congratulated the new President and expressed her willingness to work closely and collaboratively with Sri Lanka to bring the country out of the economic crisis.
The Government is ready to work with organisations such as the IMF as long as the benefits can be passed on to the public. Those who would be really deprived and affected will be the corrupt elements who throttled the economy and swindled public funds in various ways by deceiving the public, he added.
