EXCLUSIVE: Sri Lanka is getting stable, but tough times ahead - Samantha Power

COLOMBO (News 1st); USAID Administrator Samantha Power, speaking to News 1st stated that USA will continue to support Sri Lanka at this vulnerable time.

In an exclusive interview with News 1st's Zulfick Farzan, the Administrator Power revealed that one of the most important topics of conversation with the Indian Foreign Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar in India was the crisis in Sri Lanka.

Administrator Power, while appreciating India for stepping forward and providing financial assistance at the height of the crisis, emphasized that the USA joins India and all friends of the Sri Lankan people in supporting the country.

She also commented on the IMF program, and said that the progress that has been made in the engagements with the IMF are significant, and that USA supports Sri Lanka as it seeks to obtain the IMF program that it has reached the preliminary agreement stage.

However, she said that debt distress in this country is quesitionable, and how the Government and Sri Lankans can get access to the kind of credit that they need to keep the economy fueled remains an issue.

Moreover, Administrator Power said that she will be meeting later this evening with Sri Lankan private sector actors, business leaders in order to hear about what more the US can do but also how the private sector feels the crisis is being managed, or needs to be managed, and what adjustments and reforms need to happen and how it needs to be prioritized.

"And what is so heartbreaking is there are a set of dynamics beyond the control of the ordinary people that have left ordinary people and vulnerable people facing challenges the likes of which they have not encountered before," she added.