ECONOMYNEXT — The minister of finance, the secretary to the finance ministry, and the governor of the central bank were conspicuous by their absence at Sri Lanka’s first meeting with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since the presidential election.
The top three senior officials who had until now played a central role in discussions and negotiations with the IMF were missing in official pictures of the meeting released by the government on Wednesday October 02.
The meeting was attended by a delegation from the IMF that included Senior Mission Chief Peter Breuer, Resident Representative Sarwat Jahan and Economist Manavee Abeyawickrama.
According to a press release from the president’s media division (PMD), representing Sri Lanka were “key members of the Economic Policy Council, including Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma, Prof. Anil Jayantha, Chair of the Economic Policy Council & Senior Advisor to the President on Economic Affairs & finance. Mr. Sunil Handunnetti, Prof. Seetha Bandara Ranathunga, Mr. Sunil Gamage, Mr. Duminda Hulangamuwa Senior Advisor to the President, Dr. Nandasiri Kihimbiyahetti, Prof. O. G. Dayaratne Banda and Mr. Amarasena Athukorala.”
It was not immediately clear in what official capacity Handuneththi, Ranathunga and Gamage were present at the meeting.
Handunneththi, a former Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) MP, caused some controversy earlier this year when he made a remark casually dismissing Sri Lanka’s obligations to its international sovereign bond (ISB) holders. A video went viral online showing Handunneththi, who is also the ex-chair of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), insisting that creditors a risk when investing in an ISB.
“How did we get stuck in ISBs? Everyone who puts in money for ISBs do so taking the risk involved. They calculate the interest with the risk included. They have already taken the risk from the interest. If we say we’re not paying the ISB debt, they’ll say ‘it’s okay, machang’, because the risk is contained in the interest,” Handunneththi said in the video.
“ISBs are for investing in risky economies. The maturity periods and interests are calculated after a risk analysis. That’s what we have to say to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) too. ‘Give us the loan if you wish to. We will pay it back, but give us a fair amount of time to pay back. We don’t want conditions,” he added.
Cabinet spokesman and media minister Vijitha Herath had said earlier this week that the IMF’s visit on Wednesday was only meant to be a “courtesy call” and there would be no discussions at a structural level.
According to the PMD, the high-level IMF delegation arrived in Sri Lanka to “engage with the newly formed government led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. The primary objective of the visit was to initiate discussions on the progress of the IMF Program and necessary steps towards the release of the fourth tranche of the 2.9 billion US dollar Extended Fund Facility.” (Colombo/Oct03/2024)