brand logo

Cabraal and Treasury Secretary to not attend Cabinet today

03 Jan 2022

Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal and Finance Ministry and Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle will reportedly not be summoned to the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers scheduled for today (3), despite earlier plans for them to attend and assist the Cabinet to decide on whether the Government should seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This is due to there being a backlog of cabinet papers which are slated to be discussed at today’s meeting due to a meeting not being held last week; therefore, there is unlikely to be sufficient time for a comprehensive discussion. It is now unclear whether a decision on IMF assistance would be taken at today’s meeting in the absence of these two key economic officials, despite the Government facing an unprecedented foreign currency, especially US dollar, shortage. Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said last week Attygalle and Cabraal have been summoned to the Cabinet of Ministers’ meeting scheduled for today, where a final decision on whether the Government will seek assistance from the IMF will be made. “I think that Attygalle and Cabraal have been summoned to the cabinet meeting on 3 January 2022. There, we can make a final decision on whether or not to go to the IMF. At this time, we have two measures for the current US dollar (USD) deficit in the country. One is to go to the IMF. The other is to get support from our allies. I don’t mean borrowing at interest. We can get assistance from friendly countries under long-term concessional interest rates,” said Amaraweera, while addressing the media on Wednesday (29). He said that he sees “nothing wrong” in seeking help from the IMF, as all the conditions they impose need not be accepted. “There is nothing wrong with going to the IMF. We have to go. There is nothing else to do at this point. Our economy is in a big crisis, so there is nothing wrong with going to the IMF. But we don’t have to accept all the conditions they set.” Although there was speculation earlier this month as well that Cabraal has been summoned to previous cabinet meetings, he denied this claim in a Twitter message on 13 December, adding that the news was “originated by an Opposition politician”. During the same week, Energy Minister and Cabinet Co-Spokesman Udaya Gammanpila told The Morning that there was no truth to reports that Cabraal and Attygalle were scheduled to meet with the Cabinet. In late November, the IMF told The Morning Business that its staff stands ready to discuss options with the Sri Lankan Government, during the visit of the fund’s representatives to Sri Lanka in December. The IMF disclosed this in response to a media inquiry regarding the Article IV mission to Colombo in December. However, during the Monetary Policy Review press conference held the next day, Cabraal stated that Sri Lanka is neither afraid nor has hindrances to approach the IMF for financial assistance, but it simply chooses not to, merely because it does not feel the need for it. He further noted that if they are to seek IMF assistance, the fund might require the Government to depreciate the Sri Lankan rupee, increase interest rates, cut down the number of public servants, slash pension schemes, and sell state properties, which is a reform agenda the Government is not willing to comply with at the moment.


More News..