Harsha de Silva Says IMF Agreement Needed on Government’s Budget

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Parliamentarian Dr. Harsha de Silva expressed his views on the Government’s budget and its ongoing discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at an SJB media briefing held on September 25.

De Silva said the IMF would have to reach agreement with the Government on its budget.

He also questioned statements made by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake about providing relief to the public, referring to comments made by Minister Anil Jayantha Fernando.

De Silva criticised what he described as a significant change in the Government’s position towards the IMF. He said that before coming to power, the Government had taken a strongly negative position on the IMF, but that its current approach appeared to have moved towards the opposite extreme.

He said the Government had held discussions with the IMF for around two years and noted that he had also been involved in discussions with the IMF for approximately two years. Based on his experience, he said it was not necessary for every government decision to be made exactly according to what the IMF wanted.

De Silva said he had also held lengthy discussions following the latest IMF engagement and was aware of the issues involved. He said discussions on the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework had not yet been completed and stressed that the budget is part of the country’s broader fiscal programme.

According to De Silva, the IMF would need to agree with the Government’s budget before it could be presented in its final form.

He said that although the President sometimes speaks about reducing taxes and providing other forms of relief, such measures would have to be implemented in accordance with the country’s medium-term fiscal policy framework.

De Silva said discussions with the IMF would continue until an agreement was reached regarding the Government’s budget.

He further argued that the Government appeared to have moved towards a more liberal economic position and said that, although he had been among those who called for Sri Lanka to approach the IMF during the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration, this did not mean that Sri Lanka should accept everything proposed by the IMF without question.

He said there should be sufficient capacity to debate and challenge IMF proposals where necessary, identifying this as an important distinction in the current approach.

De Silva also said that the SJB would vote against the proposed 22nd Amendment later that day. He acknowledged that the Government had a two-thirds majority in Parliament and said the Government was therefore expected to pass the amendment, adding that the Opposition would assess what followed afterwards.