Sri Lanka's Semasinghe Sounds Alarm on Perils of Leaving IMF Program

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lankan State Finance Minister Shehan Semasinghe underscored the importance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program in guiding the country towards financial stability and cautioned against deviating from its prescribed course.

"The IMF has provided a crucial framework for our economic recovery," Minister Semasinghe stated. "We have implemented necessary reforms to establish financial discipline, and these measures have been consistently endorsed by Parliament." He emphasized the program's critical role in achieving current stability and warned against the pitfalls of abandoning it.

"Whenever an IMF delegation visits, certain groups try to portray a false narrative of strong opposition to the program within Parliament," the Minister declared. "However, the reality is clear: deviating from this path will lead us down a disastrous spiral, resulting in another economic collapse."

He further underscored the dire consequences of deviating from the program, warning, "It's widely accepted that abandoning this course would inevitably lead to another economic collapse. We've already endured one such collapse, inflicting immense hardship on our people. Do we really want to subject them to three or four times that level of suffering?"