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Sirisena urges foreign diplomats’ conference to draw FDI

24 Mar 2022

BY Buddhika Samaraweera Former President and incumbent Government MP Maithripala Sirisena said that steps should be taken to convene diplomats from friendly countries and to hold a conference aimed at attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to Sri Lanka. Commenting on the current economic situation in the country, he also said that a plan should be drawn up to restructure foreign debt and that the Government should take steps to bring in certain legal provisions if necessary.  He said: “The country’s foreign debt needs to be restructured in the face of the current economic crisis with the intervention of a trusted country or institution. Necessary legal provisions should be made for this by introducing new laws and removing existing laws as required.” Speaking further, Sirisena said that the current situation in the country should be declared as a crisis, adding that it is very important to provide accurate information to the people regarding the economic collapse. He added: “It is very important to limit the printing of banknotes, and to make forecasts on the future economic situation with the assistance of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) and other experts. It is also important to note that no such forecast has been made so far with regard to the situation which we are seeing today.” Speaking at the all-party conference to discuss the economic situation of the country yesterday (23), he made a number of suggestions on the steps to be taken to overcome the current crisis situation. Among them are cutting off unnecessary government spending, reviewing the Government’s fertiliser policy, formulating a joint programme for the welfare of the people, reintroducing a pricing formula to regulate fuel prices, increasing renewable energy production, and formulating a programme to provide relief to the people.  He also proposed to import goods only on the basis of priority, to strengthen the manufacturing economy, to constantly monitor commodity prices and their quality, to formulate a programme for the sensitive control of possible social unrest, and to establish a fully fledged commission to combat corruption and irregularities.


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