Neither Sajith nor Anura will receive support from the IMF – President

President Ranil Wickremesinghe stated that his primary objective is to ease the burden on the lives of the people.

He emphasized the importance of upholding the agreements made with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and moving forward with them. The President noted that it is not feasible to alter these agreements, contrary to the claims made by Sajith and Anura.

Additionally, President Wickremesinghe pointed out that Sajith and Anura’s proposals lack the approval of the IMF. The IMF’s support is firmly behind the government’s current program. Julie Kozak, the IMF’s Communications Director, has officially confirmed that protecting Sri Lanka’s progress under the IMF program is crucial for future advancement.

President Wickremesinghe made these remarks during the “Ranil ta Puluwan” (Ranil Can) victory rally held at the Horana Public Stadium this afternoon (15).

In his address to the public, President Wickremesinghe further elaborated:

My primary goal is to ease the burden on people’s lives. We must continue to uphold our agreements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as we have no other source of support. The IMF has facilitated aid from 18 countries and provided us witha $10 billion advantage in managing our debt interest payments.

We need to transition to an export-driven economy. We cannot sustain borrowing indefinitely, especially when our import expenses exceed our export income. To keep our economy strong, we must focus on building an export economy and modernizing our economic practices. Providing subsidies alone will not advance our country; we need to develop a robust economy together.

People are enduring hardships for the sake of their children’s future. We must build a prosperous nation for them. Sajith and Anura are promising everything for free, but this is not feasible. They are misleading people to secure votes. Despite their claims of negotiating with the IMF, no such discussions have taken place.

The IMF has emphasized the importance of achieving the objectives of our current program to help Sri Lanka emerge from its severe economic crisis. They have stressed the need to continue implementing economic reforms, which means I must carry on with the program I initiated. I am the only one capable of advancing this program.

The decision on the next presidential election rests with the people of Sri Lanka.According to the IMF, our program has made significant progress, and it is crucial to protect the gains we have achieved to fully recover from this crisis.

Neither Sajith nor Anura will receive support from the IMF; that support is for our program. Therefore,the choice is whether to fall for their misleading promises or to continue with the path we’ve set.