Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said today that he absorbed criticism on behalf of the Central Bank when the private sector was criticizing the tightening of monetary policy over the past few years. “From 2015 we have handled the debt and stablised the economy. Of course you blaggarded us for high interest rates and for money not being in the market. Actually, I took the blaggarding on behalf of the Central Bank,” he said. Wickremesinghe made these remarks addressing top level corporate leaders and businessmen at the 2^nd session of the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2019 which commenced today (17) at the Cinnamon Grand Colombo. He went on to say that the Government’s policies have proven to be successful and that a Government must be willing to take unpopular decisions when necessary. “We now have a primary surplus for the first time since the 1950s. We have had to make unpopular decisions. A government is not about making popular decisions but making unpopular decisions. Otherwise you might as well be a pop star,” Wickremesinghe said. The summit, organized by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, concludes tomorrow.