The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) led National People’s Power (NPP) yesterday (14) alleged that even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is in the dark about certain aspects of the Government's debt restructuring programme due to some complications that exist in the said programme.
Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (14) following a meeting held between the NPP and the IMF delegation, the NPP's Chief Economic Adviser, Prof. Anil Jayantha, said that the discussion primarily focused on the NPP's vision for a homegrown solution to the economic crisis and debt restructuring.
He also said that the NPP team led by its Opposition Parliamentarian (MP) Vijitha Herath had clearly presented their intention to carry on the IMF programme based on a homegrown solution (economic development solutions), which was, according to him, accepted by the IMF delegation. He noted that the NPP told the IMF that no repressive measures that harm citizens’ livelihoods will be taken by any future Government formed by the NPP. “We clearly explained to them that we have to follow a homegrown solution to address the current economic crisis. We told them that we cannot completely rely on its assistance, but that we will have to find our own way to recover. We explained to them that we cannot solely depend on the austerity measures. Rather, we need a people-friendly solution, which they accepted,” he claimed.
Moreover, Prof. Jayantha alleged that even the IMF does not have an idea about certain issues related to the Government's programme and said that the lack of commitment and transparency of that programme is noticed by the NPP. “We inquired as to whether the IMF has any idea about the specific time duration that it takes to complete the debt restructuring, and they said that they don’t have any idea about it,” he claimed.
Speaking further, he also noted that the Government’s double standards in terms of corruption and good governance were deeply concerning. He also said that the NPP explained the adverse effects of appointing certain MPs who are accused of various acts of corruption to some responsible positions. Prof. Jayantha also noted that the NPP raised some issues with the lack of progress in the Government’s action plan to prevent corruption.