Dr. Priyanga Dunusinghe, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics, University of Colombo, says that the Sri Lankan economy, which recorded negative economic growth for six consecutive quarters, is recovering positive growth by the last quarter of 2023 with the support of the International Monetary Fund.
Dr. Dunusinghe points out that the people should think about the effect on the country’s economy of the statements made by some political parties that they will renegotiate the agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
With the IMF agreement inflationary interest rates have come down and exchange rates have fallen to Rs. 300 has been stabilized and even if a new government is elected, the current proposed goals are to increase tax revenue to 15.3% of the gross national product by 2027, reduce the debt ratio to 95% by 2032, and reduce foreign debt to 4.5% of GDP. Dr. Dunusinghe mentions that it cannot be discussed again.
Although it is possible to discuss whether the method of reaching those goals can be changed, before entering into this agreement, the officials of the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund have studied those options in depth, so there is an emphasis on whether there are such options, said Dr. Dunusinghe. did
He noted that although talks like tax reduction and tax collection can be discussed in the political arena, the IMF knows that such solutions are not effective in the short term and if the IMF support is delayed, the government will not even be able to present the budget for the year 2025, he said. .
Dr. Priyantha Dunusinghe also warns that if a future government cancels the agreement with the IMF and tries to go to other alternative measures, the country will collapse again within two months.
He said this while joining a discussion with a private radio channel.