September has come and gone, and SL remains bankrupt

‘When this country declared bankruptcy, it seemed to me that I should try to eliminate this bankruptcy as much as possible. I expect the IMF by July, or August. Complete the work and remove it from bankruptcy by September…’
Ranil Wickramasinghe
21.05.2023
Lankadeepa

‘I hope that Sri Lanka will be able to be freed from bankruptcy by next September. Whether you are Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim or any other race, no one likes to be called bankrupt. I know you don’t want to put this label on the collective. Therefore, we should all work together to remove this label of bankruptcy….’
Ranil Wickramasinghe
Presidential press release
30.06.2023

Today is the last day of September. ‘But we are still bankrupt…’

The IMF said that the recovery of Sri Lanka’s bankrupt economy is also uncertain. The second loan instalment to be given to Sri Lanka has been postponed indefinitely.

‘All the last year, the president, the government and the media said that everything was right…’

Not only the President, the government, and the media but also the Governor of the Central Bank and the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Dr. Indrajith Kumaraswamy, who advises Sri Lanka’s economy to recover, said that everything is right.

Ranil went to international conferences saying everything was fine. IMF says that Sri Lanka needs a full-time finance minister. It was said even before setting foot in Sri Lanka. During Gota’s presidency, Gota had decided to make Ranil the prime minister and remove him from the post of finance minister. But Ranil became president and kept the post of finance minister under him.

Not only the President, the government, and the media but also the Governor of the Central Bank and the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Dr. Indrajith Kumaraswamy, who advises Sri Lanka’s economy to recover, said that everything is right.

Ranil went to international conferences saying everything was fine. IMF says that Sri Lanka needs a full-time finance minister. It was said even before setting foot in Sri Lanka. During Gota’s presidency, Gota had decided to make Ranil the prime minister and remove him from the post of finance minister. But Ranil became president and kept the post of finance minister under him.

He is abroad more than he is in Sri Lanka last year after becoming president. Talk about the second tranche of the IMF. He was still abroad when the representatives came. He visited the country three times in two weeks. A finance minister should work round the clock to bring a country out of bankruptcy. It is now clear that Ranil has not done the work that should be done by a finance minister.

‘Who is this Central Bank Governor Nandalal…?’

When Nandalal got angry with Gota and resigned from the position of Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, his daughter made a note on her Facebook page and said that both parties accused her father of favouring the two major parties when they came to power. The daughter’s note is true. Nandalal always did favours for parties. He was appointed as the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank by Nivard Cabral, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government. He used to call him Sir at that time.

In 2015, when the Maithri-Ranil government came to power and Arjun Mahendran became the Governor of the Central Bank, he was addressed as Sir. When President Maithri decided to expel Arjun Mahendran, he called Maithri Sir and attacked Arjun. He expected Maithri to appoint him to head the central bank. But Ranil did not let him. Indrajith Kumaraswamy was appointed the Governor of the Central Bank. Then Nandalal addressed him, Sir.

When Gota came to power in 2019 and Ajit Nivard Cabral became the Minister of State for Finance, Nandalal called him sir again, but remembering how Nandalal, whom he created, had cheated on him, Cabral gave him a hard time. Gotabhaya summoned Nandalal to testify in the ETI inquiry to the CID.  Also, Arjun Mahendran’s son-in-law Arjun Aloysius through a court motion requested that Nandalal be immediately arrested as the commission report alleges that he is involved in the central bank bond scam.

This is Nandalal’s history. It is not only the Finance Ministers who bankrupted Sri Lanka, but also the Central Bank, which acted as the Finance Minister, is responsible for it. He is a former senior official of the central bank. He is also a key figure among the Central Bank officials who advised Sri Lanka to take loans when the Finance Ministers were lending from the world.

‘Then are there people in Sri Lanka who think that Nandalal will save Sri Lanka from bankruptcy…?’

That is what is unfortunate in Sri Lanka. From the day Gotabhaya appointed Nandalal as Governor of the Central Bank, he worked to become a common candidate in the next presidential election or to become top-notch in the IMF. He made great efforts to become a type of central bank governor in the magazine that awarded Ravi the best finance minister in the world. Somehow he got it done in the magazine, but the country is still bankrupt. Nandalal is that type of central banker. ‘

Who is this Finance Ministry Secretary Mahinda Siriwardena…?’

Mahinda Siriwardena was a former officer of the Central Bank for 30 years. He is also an official who advised towards the bankruptcy of the country under the finance ministers. After he was appointed to the post of secretary, he spent the time postponing the LG elections for Ranil by saying that there was no money in the treasury. He once told the court that if there were elections, the IMF program would be disrupted. Now the IMF program has been disrupted by Finance Minister Ranil, Central Bank Governor Nandalal, Finance Ministry Secretary Mahinda Siriwardena and Kumaraswamy, who advised the government regarding the agreement with the IMF.

The IMF has set aside the bankruptcy bailout to bail itself out by using the program. If the circulars issued by Mahinda Siriwardena to postpone the election for Ranil had been issued to recover the economy, the country would be free from bankruptcy today.

‘Who is this Indrajith Kumaraswamy…?’

Kumaraswamy’s name became world famous for the corrupt dealings of Raj Rajaratnam. Coomaraswamy served as an adviser to Raj Rajaratnam, who was jailed by the US in 2011 for profiteering. He was also an official who worked in the Central Bank since 1973 and contributed to the bankruptcy of Sri Lanka. Maithri and Ranil government appointed him to the post of central bank governor.

The debt mountain which was 42.9 billion US dollars in 2014 went up to 56 billion dollars by 2019 when he was governor of the central bank. Ranil took advice from him to rescue Sri Lanka from bankruptcy. He recently gave a piece of wonderful advice while giving an interview on the ‘Economy Next’ website. That is, holding elections will disrupt the recovery of Sri Lanka’s economy.

Then the IMF said that Sri Lanka’s economy cannot be restored as it is. Did they mean by holding elections…?’ ‘

Sri Lanka’s debt, in 1977 which was 9.5 billion US dollars, will be 46.89 billion US dollars in 2023. 2022 Ranil as President, Nandalal as Governor of Central Bank, Siriwardena as Secretary, Kumaraswamy as advisor has increased the debt of $46.89 billion from December 2022 to March 2023, which was $40.12 billion. From 1977 upto now, Ranil has served as Minister, Prime Minister and President. Nandalalla, Sirivardhana, Kumaraswamy have led the Central Bank.

How can you say what they have done, after a year, they have built a country that does not want to stay, but a country that wants to leave.

‘Can this team save the country from bankruptcy…?’

It needs a new leader, with a new team is needed.

By Upul Joseph Fernando