Lanka appoints advisory panel to help resolve growing debt crisis, engage with IMF

Colombo, April 7

The Sri Lankan government has appointed an advisory committee comprising eminent economic and fiscal experts to provide guidance on addressing the current debt crisis and engaging with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other lenders as the country struggles to combat the unprecedented shortage of foreign reserves.

The Presidential Advisory Group on Multilateral Engagement and Debt Sustainability includes Indrajit Coomaraswamy, former governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and former director of the Economic Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat, according to a statement issued by the President Media Division on Wednesday.

“Among the responsibilities that the Presidential Advisory Group will undertake are to engage in discussions with relevant Sri Lankan institutions and officials engaging with the IMF and to provide guidance that will address the present debt crisis and lead towards sustainable and inclusive recovery for Sri Lanka,” the statement said.

A government parliamentary group met with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday to discuss urgent steps that must be taken to improve the situation so that citizens would no longer need to stand in long queues for fuel, gas and essentials, Shehan Semasinghe, a state minister, said.

Sri Lankans have protested for weeks over lengthy power cuts and shortages of gas, food and other basic goods. The public anger has prompted nearly all Cabinet ministers to quit, and scores of lawmakers to leave Rajapaksa’s government.

Meanwhile, police said they are planning to deploy a special security arrangement for key locations such as the President’s House, Presidential Secretariat, Prime Minister’s residence-cum-office and Parliament in view of the growing public protests over the country’s worst economic crisis.

India had recently announced to extend a USD 1 billion line of credit to Sri Lanka as part of its financial assistance to the country to deal with the economic crisis following a previous USD 500 billion line of credit in February to help it purchase petroleum products.

The Indian High Commission on Wednesday announced the arrival of two more shipments of fuel to Colombo under the Indian credit line.

“Total supply of various types of fuel under Indian assistance now stands at more than 270,000 MT,” it said.