Wickremesinghe said in a message to the people that he planned to propose a special relief budget that would take the place of the development-oriented budget earlier approved for this year
Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister talked about privatising the country’s loss-making national airline. The country is going through its worst financial crisis and the government has decided to implement reforms aimed at solving the crisis. Wickremesinghe said in a message to the people that he planned to propose a special relief budget that would take the place of the development-oriented budget earlier approved for this year. He said it would channel funds previously allocated for infrastructure development to public welfare.
AP reported that the Prime Minister said the country’s financial health was so poor that the government had been forced to print money to pay the salaries of government workers and buy other goods and services. It may be pointed out that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister recently to end the island nation’s political and economic crisis.
Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President’s brother, quit his post as Prime Minister on May 9 amidst the violence that left nine people dead and more than 200 wounded. Protesters wanted the powerful Rajapaksa family resign to take responsibility for leading the country into the economic crisis. There is a scarcity of medicines, fuel, cooking gas and food because of a severe shortage of foreign currency in Sri Lanka.
Parties have said they would support the measures enumerated by the PM to improve the economy while they remain in the opposition
The PM said Sri Lankan Airlines lost about $123 million in the 2020-2021 fiscal year, which ended in March, and its aggregate losses exceeded $1 billion as of March 2021. “Even if we privatise Sri Lankan Airlines, this is a loss that we must bear. You must be aware that this is a loss that must be borne even by the poor people of this country who have never stepped on an airplane,” Wickremesinghe was quoted saying. From 1998 to 2008, Sri Lankan Airlines was managed by Emirates Airlines.
The country’s total foreign debt is USD 51 billion. The finance ministry said that the country currently has only USD 25 million in usable foreign reserves. The PM said around USD 75 billion was urgently needed to provide people with essential items, but the country’s treasury was struggling to find even USD 1 billion.
“I have no desire to hide the truth and to lie to the public. Although these facts are unpleasant and terrifying, this is the true situation. For a short period, our future will be even more difficult than the tough times that we have passed. We will face considerable challenges and adversity. However, this period will not be long,” he said, adding that countries with which he had spoken had pledged to help in the next few months.
To add to his problems, Wickremesinghe is finding it difficult to form a new Cabinet since many parties are not too keen to join his government. Wickremesinghe’s appointment would go against the wishes of the people because he was defeated in 2020 elections and joined Parliament only through a seat allocated to his party.
Even so, parties have said they would support the measures enumerated by the PM to improve the economy while they remain in the opposition.
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