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Cabinet briefed on IMF deal, but not shown agreement

08 Sep 2022

BY Safrah Fazal   While President Ranil Wickremesinghe has briefed the Cabinet of Ministers on the contents of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff-level agreement with Sri Lanka, the Cabinet is yet to see the agreement, The Morning learnt. “We haven’t looked at the agreement itself, however, President Wickremesinghe has briefed us on the contents of this agreement. He has been keeping us updated on its progress since last week,” Cabinet sources told The Morning yesterday (7).  However, when MP Anura Priyadarshana Yapa queried as to whether the Cabinet was aware of the contents of the said agreement in the Parliament on Tuesday (6), Minister of Education Susil Premajayantha stated that the Cabinet was unaware of the contents of the said agreement. While making the interim Budget speech on 30 August, President Wickremesinghe said that details of the IMF discussions will be relayed to the Parliament when the meetings are concluded.  “Once the discussions with the IMF are concluded, I expect to provide the information on the same to the Parliament.” Speaking further, sources claimed that while they are unable to divulge all the contents, the staff level agreement did not contain any issues that are deeply concerning to the public.  “I cannot divulge certain details, but we will have to take several cost cutting measures. For instance, we cannot increase the number of State sector employees, and if there are additional State sector employees, we have to release them at least through the voluntary retirement scheme, convert State sector institutions into profit making institutes, restructure debt, and make other similar interventions. They are not really looking at relief subsidies as of now, but they have instructed us to provide assistance to vulnerable groups. What is important is that there are no issues of serious concern.” In Parliament on Tuesday, perusing through the Hansard report of 22 June, Samagi Jana Balawegaya Opposition MP and Chairman of the Committee on Public Finance Dr. Harsha de Silva noted in response to a query put forward by Tamil National Alliance MP, M.A. Sumanthiran PC, that the President had stated that although the staff-level agreement will be in possession of the IMF staff in order to present it to the IMF Board, he intends to brief the House on its discussions. Speaking further, de Silva charged that representatives elected by the people should agree on whether the public can bear the impact of the conditions mentioned in the staff level agreement.  “At least, they should discuss and amend the reforms accordingly, in order to ensure that the public is not severely impacted.” Speaking in Parliament on the same day, MP Prof. Charitha Herath also noted that it is imperative that at least a framework of the staff level agreement be discussed with the Parliament.  “This is a matter of grave concern as it poses a Constitutional issue,” he stated


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