Political crisis caused immense damage to economy - PM

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament today (10) that the 51 day political crisis that engulfed the country recently had an extremely adverse impact on the country's economy. 

By Sandun Jayawardana

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament today (10) that the 51 day political crisis that engulfed the country recently had an extremely adverse impact on the country's economy. 

Making a special statement in Parliament, Mr Wickremesinghe stated that the crisis had made the task of paying off the country's debts much harder. 

He noted that the country's foreign reserves stood at USD 7991 billion by October 26, last year. However, the 51 day political crisis had seen those reserves dwindle drastically by USD 1 billion to USD 6985 billion now, the Premier claimed. "If the crisis had not happened, we would have been able to manage those reserves efficiently to increase them to USD 8 billion," Mr Wickremesinghe added. 

The PM also said that the proposed currency swap with India was part of an agreement between SAARC countries and does not require any collateral such as the Mattala Airport or Colombo Port as claimed by some.