Handunnetti? Or Harsha? Ranil Questions, SJB, NPP Renegotiation Claims

COLOMBO (News 1st) – President Ranil Wickremesinghe, also an independent presidential candidate, has defended the comprehensive debt negotiation framework established with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank, Export-Import Bank of China, and 17 other countries.

Speaking on the complexities of the debt restructuring process, Wickremesinghe questioned the feasibility of renegotiating the established benchmarks and timelines.

In recent week, the Samagi Jana Balavegaya and National People's Power, opposition factions that have put forward presidential candidates, claimed that the existing IMF program will be revisited and renegotiated.

"What are they going to renegotiate? Are they renegotiating the benchmarks? What else are they going to renegotiate? Are they going to renegotiate the time span? Or are they going to renegotiate the benchmarks? It took us over one year to get this through. How are they going to negotiate with all these countries?," said the President.

He highlighted the intricate coordination required, noting that China negotiates separately from the Paris Club, while India and other countries have been grouped together. Wickremesinghe emphasized that the current mechanism, which took over a year to finalize, is now in place and operational.

"China negotiates separately from the Paris Club. People like India, and other countries, we have got them into two groups. That is India and all join the Paris Club. China came separately, Chine is organized in such a way, that China also worked together, coordinated with the OCC, OCC coordinated with China. That is the mechanism that we have put together. So, that mechanism is gone, because it is no longer necessary. We have negotiated, we have put that down, it is up to us to perform," stressed Wickremesinghe.

The President pointed out that different creditors, such as China’s Exim Bank and the Official Creditor Committee (OCC), offer varied types of relief.

"The type of relief China's Exim Bank is giving us is different from the type of relief given by the OCC. If we go to the sovereign bondholders, that is a different one. In some, we will get space to eliminate and reduce the interest payments. In some, spacing out the time of the repayment. In other words, if you put all together, you come with an 'Achcharu' because there is so much food in different places. Are they going to do it again? Who is going to do it? Sunil Handunnetti? or Harsha De Silva? Good luck to you'll," added the President.