Parliament should be informed of agreements with creditors - Harsha

SJB parliamentarian Dr. Harsha de Silva says that if the Government of Sri Lanka is to reach any agreement with external creditors, the Parliament should be informed of the conditions before reaching the agreements.

Speaking in the parliament today (Sep 21), the MP stated that foreign media had reported that the Sri Lankan government agreed with the IMF that it will hold open discussions with all creditors on Friday.

Harsha de Silva further expressed that he thoroughly believes if the government agrees to a debt restructuring program with Sri Lanka’s creditors, that it needs the agreement of both sides of the parliament, as no one knows how long the incumbent government will last. 

“We don’t request for the sensitive information, but it is much better if we are informed on what we are going to tell the creditors and in which direction we are moving,” he added.

He also pointed out that strict conditions need to be followed in order to restructure the debts and those conditions are needed to be passed in the parliament, as this is the first time that Sri Lanka is holding discussions for debt restructuring.

In response to MP Harsha de Silva, Minister Bandula Gunawardene declared that no such agreement has been made as of yet.

“They will inform of the measures and policies to be followed for further credibility. This is not our personal thing to hide,” added the Minister