IMF recovery pills will pose danger to local industries, says FSP

By Anuradha Hiripitiyage

Seeking IMF help will lead to the ruination of local industries, warns the Education Secretary of the Frontline Socialist Party, Pubudu Jayagoda said.

Commenting on the address to the nation by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, on Wednesday (16), Jayagoda said that the President had sought to absolve himself of responsibility for the current economic crisis.

“This is a man who once insisted that he was a great administrator who had done a great job. On Wednesday, he said ‘none of this is my creation.’ Addressing issues that arise in the country is a part of being a leader. He has to find solutions. The speech on the 16th offered no solutions. He read out a wish list,” Jayagoda said.

While the President offered no strategy out of the economic crisis, he has urged the people to tighten their belts. “He asks people not to waste fuel. At a time when fuel is at an all-time high, who would waste fuel? There are power cuts that last for hours, and people use electricity sparingly because they can’t pay the bills,” he said.

Jayagoda said that President Rajapaksa had declared that they would seek IMF help. Sri Lanka was now at the mercy of the IMF, he said. “Now the IMF will impose strict conditions that will have devastating impacts on the country”, he said.

“Even in 2016, the IMF wanted social expenditure curtailed. It asked the government to tax medicines to reduce barriers to trade and to enter into free trade agreements. We had better bargaining power in 2016 but now these will be implemented. People will suffer and local industries, not connected to the government, will collapse,” the FSP Education Secretary said.