German Ambassador Holger Seubert met local G7 partners, including envoys from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US, as well as the International Monetary Fund, on Friday (27), to discuss restructuring Sri Lanka’s debt to its donor nations. Sri Lanka is currently experiencing a severe financial crisis and is seeking a bailout from the IMF, after the Government failed to make payments to its development partners, including India, China and Japan, among others.
At the outset, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the United States Treasury Robert Kaproth was in Sri Lanka, where he met President Ranil Wickremesinghe and discussed Sri Lanka’s plans to conduct economic reforms in accordance with the negotiated IMF deal. After the discussion, US Ambassador Julie Chung tweeted, “Political will and forceful actions will help get the economy back on track.” Kaproth also met the AmCham to discuss US corporate opinions on Sri Lanka’s investment climate and ideas to help the country transit from economic stabilisation and recovery to a stronger, more resilient economy.
US Top Envoy Kaproth also had an open conversation about the IMF programme with members of the Opposition Party, the SJB, given the new reality of a rapid increase in poverty from 3.0 million in 2019 to possibly 9.6 million by mid-2022.
Kaproth also met CBSL Governor Nandal Weerasinghe, with whom he highlighted Sri Lanka’s sustained adherence to IMF staff-level agreements and efforts to establish a resilient, sustainable economy. According to the US envoy, IMF staff-level agreements are better able to weather financial crises. Economic changes that promote accountability and address the needs of all Sri Lankans are critical to the country’s economic revival.