Banks in crisis due to govt. hoodwinking country on local debt restructuring, says Udaya

The government had agreed to restructure domestic debt after it signed the staff level agreement with IMF representatives, Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader, MP Udaya Gammanpila, said on Thursday, addressing the media in Colombo.

“When the government entered into discussions with the IMF, it insisted that it wouldn’t restructure domestic debt. We were told that the staff-level agreement, signed in September 2022, had no reference to domestic debt restructuring. But now the government insists that restructuring domestic debt is a precondition to restructure foreign debt. We were not shown the staff-level agreement, even though the government insisted that all documents with the IMF had been presented to Parliament. Why is this document still a secret? According to our sources, the government has agreed to restructure domestic debt, after it signed the staff-level agreement,” he said.

Gammanpila said that the document, the government presented to Parliament, was not the staff-level agreement. However, even that had vague references to restructuring domestic debt.

“Page 17 of the document given to us has this phrase: ‘The authorities and their financial advisors are weighing different options and their associated legal procedures to optimise the design of a Local Law Local Currency debt treatment while preserving financial stability.’ Instead of the word ‘restructure’, they use the word ‘optimise.’ Whom are they trying to fool? Now, all the bankers are freaking out because they don’t know how the government will go about restructuring domestic debt. They have not been consulted or their concerns noted,” he said.

The PHU leader said that local commercial banks had given large loans to the government. From 2019, the banking sector has been facing continuous crises, he said.

“A number of moratoriums were given. Due to the economic crisis, there are a lot of non-performing loans, too. According to the IMF, the loans given by commercial banks to the government is about 40 percent of total banking assets. Everything hangs in the balance. It would be ideal if the government could avoid restructuring domestic debt. But if it must, it must only be done following a serious discussion with all stakeholders,’ he said. (RK)