Sabry admits govt.'s lapses

Sri Lanka's usable Foreign Reserves which were at around USD 7 billion in 2019, had dropped to less than USD 50 million.

Making a special statement in parliament today (04), Finance Minister Ali Sabry PC told the Parliament that Sri Lanka settled USD 8 billion in debt in 2021, and US currency was released to the market to maintain the rate at Rs. 203/-.

He also admitted that the tax reductions in the last 2-3 years, not going for the IMF sooner and not depreciating the rupee earlier as well as delays to refinance debts were lapses by the present government.

He also says it will take at least 6 months for Sri Lanka to enter into a program with the IMF and that that he thinks that the current crisis will not be solved at for another two years.