India helped the most, no new Chinese investment: Sri Lanka’s ex PM on financial crisis
Posted on April 10th, 2022
Courtesy Livemint.com
It (economic crisis) never happened in our time…when our government was here there were no queues of the people to buy the basic necessities, Sri Lanka’s ex PM said
Former Prime minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesingheon Sunday blamed the incumbent government of plunging the country into a deep economic and political crisis. Wickremesingheon also pointed out, the government is “incompetent in dealing with the financial challenges”. He further praised India for its maximum support during the crisis period. He also stated that no Chinese investment under this government has come to the country.
“It (economic crisis) never happened in our time…when our government was here there were no queues of the people to buy the basic necessities. There should have not been any reason for the people to come on the streets. But it’s all happening because of the incompetence of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government in the country,” former PM Wickremesinghe told ANI.RECOMMENDED FOR YOUView All
He added, “The dire economic situation has led to the political crisis, and what is happening is a disaster to the country. For two years, this government ignored all the signs of the looming economic issues. I remember when I left the office in 2019 we had a surplus budget and there was enough money to pay (for our imports).”
For not approaching the IMF during the economic crisis, Wickremesinghe slammed the incumbent government for not making timely interventions. “I don’t think that the government has enough resources left in the reserves and now they seek to borrow from the leading export companies to pay the bills. The line of credit for fuel extended by India will last till the second week of May,” he said. adding that Sri Lanka will be in serious trouble afterwards.
He said that India has helped Sri Lanka to the maximum. “We will have to see the outcome of the support of India while New Delhi is still helping in non-financial ways,” said Wickremesinghe.
Wickremesinghe charged that the government was not looking after the economy while suggestions were made for going to the IMF in 2020 and 2021. “The government did not go to the IMF on the advice of the central bank and the treasury and the people are now paying the price,” he told ANI.