The National People’s Power presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake reiterated that the conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are not unfavourable to the country.

Joining a business community conference held in Colombo, Dissanayake reassured that an NPP government will uphold the current agreement with the IMF.

“Now all the international relations of the country including the bilateral and multi-lateral agreements have been placed inside the IMF basket. It means that the entire future program of the country is tied together with the International Monetary Fund”, he said.

Furthermore, Dissanayake said that at this time, if anyone is thinking of unilaterally withdrawing from the IMF program, it is an abdication of accountability to the citizen or to the country.

Commenting further regarding the matter, the NPP’s presidential candidate added: “Therefore, we guarantee you that we have no hope of unilaterally withdrawing from the International Monetary Fund.”

“But we have a number of parameters set by the International Monetary Fund that we have to fulfill. We should maintain primary account balance of 2.3 next year. By 2032, our debt ratio should be maintained at 98%. We are given a number of parameters. They are not harmful to a country. Achieving them is not a bad thing. It’s not a bad economic goal, no matter who gives it”, he signed off. 

Last week, speaking to the Associated Press, Dissanayake had expressed that he plans to uphold the agreement with the IMF while his administration negotiates changes to ease the burden on the public.

“We can’t come out from the existing IMF program because we entered into the IMF program only after the country was financially collapsed. We believe there could have been another alternative. But now all the bilateral and multi-lateral agreements have been placed inside the IMF basket,” Dissanayake said.

“More attention should be paid to the hardships faced by the people when moving forward with the IMF program,” he had said.