Indian assistance not charity, says Ranil Wickremesinghe

Colombo Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on June 22 told Parliament that financial

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on June 22 told Parliament that financial assistance provided by India are not “charitable donations” and the island nation facing severe economic crisis must have a plan to repay these loans.

Also read: Explaining Sri Lanka’s economic crisis

Sri Lanka has been facing the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948 which has prompted an acute shortage of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas and fuel across the island nation.

“We have taken loans amounting to $4 billion under the Indian credit line. We have requested more loan assistance from our Indian counterparts. But even India will not be able to continuously support us in this manner. Even their assistance has its limits. On the other hand, we too must have a plan to repay these loans. These are not charitable donations,” Mr. Wickremesinghe told the Parliament in an update on the government’s mitigation measures taken so far.

He announced that a team of high ranking officials from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is due to arrive in Colombo on June 23 to assess the local economic conditions.

Mr. Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka is now facing a far more serious situation beyond the mere shortages of fuel, gas, electricity and food.

“Our economy has faced a complete collapse. That is the most serious issue before us today. These issues can only be resolved through the reviving of the Sri Lankan economy. In order to do this, we must first resolve the foreign reserves crisis faced by us,” he said. He said it is no easy task to revive a country with “a completely collapsed economy, especially one that is dangerously low on foreign reserves”.