Garvin Karunaratne Ph.D.Michigan State University

The former PrimeMinister Mr Ranil Wickremasinghe sings praise of the IMF:

US dollar will hit Rs 300 in near future

By Methmalie Dissanayake

UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday (16), warned the US dollar would reach Rs 300 before the end of the year.

In a statement, he said the economy is deteriorating, while both the dollar deficit and the rupee deficit have not been resolved yet. 

Today, the real value of the rupee is actually Rs 250 to the dollar. Even more so, this way it can go up to Rs 275. If we do not stop there, it will reach Rs 300 before the end of the year,” he said. 

The middle class is facing hardship, many are being pushed down the economic ladder. The agriculture sector has been destroyed. Small and big businessmen are unable to procure goods to do their work. This is the problem faced by the citizens. By June and July, we will have to repay foreign loans again. We have a total of US$ 6 billion to repay this year. We have not yet discussed the situation with the IMF. So we have to find the money to repay the loans in June and July. New problems are continuing to arise and this is why the banking system has been abandoned, Wickremesinghe said.

Under Article 4 of the IMF’s Constitution, each member state is required to discuss and report on its economic situation once a year. The IMF team arrived in Sri Lanka last December. We know that the report will be presented next week. As soon as the Government receives that report they have to present it to Parliament. Once it is presented to Parliament we must hold a debate on it. The proposals put forth in the report must be discussed. From there, we will see if we can come to a consensus and agree to basic principles. It is our duty,” he said.

Speaking further, the UNP Leader said, Our country just has a single resource and that  is the younger generation which comprise Millennials and Generation Zs. We need to think about that group. They want to create a future, but they have lost faith. The Government has broken its trust.”

(Extracted from Ceylon Today}

The former Hon Prime Minister has not read my book: How the IMF Sabotaged Third World Development, a manuscript of which was submitted to him by former Ambassador Nanda Godage in early 2017, even before the book was published in 2017 by Godages. 

When ever I step into Sri Lanka I make it a point to meet friends and specially officers who once worked under me, if I can find them.  Once in early 2017, I handed over a copy in manuscript form to Nanda Godage.  A day later I was  at a shop in Nawala when my phone rang. It was a strange voice I had never heard earlier. It was Maitripala Sirisena our President. I had never met him. He accosted me:”You have written a book about our country and the IMF and have given a copy to the Prime Minister. Why have you not sent me a copy.” I explained that I have never given a copy to the Prime Minister but added that I will send him a copy. Back at home I made a copy and submitted to him. 

Later on speaking to Nanda Godage he confided in me that he thought of the worth of the book and submitted it to the Prime Minister whom he knew well..

I would like the former Prime Minister to kindly read that book and also my earlier published  book: How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka & Alternative Programs of Success,  published by Godages in 2006. These books prove that it was our following the neolibearl economics of the Structural Adjustment program that  made a country that did not owe a single  dollar to anyone in 1977 come to the point where we are in debt to the tume of $ 56 billion.

The economic rule is clear even to a peddler on the streets that if one lives on loans without being able to pay back, one will be in real trouble before long.  However advised by the Ph.D. pundits in our Central bank- (they sang praises of the IMF’s St Adj. in their Annual Reports) and our book worm dons at all our universities, President Jayawardena as well as my close associate Ronnie de Mel were fooled to accept loans and live on loans and allow the rich in the country to go on pilgrimage , to go cruising, to send off their progeny to study abroad all funded by loans. To entice our leaders to accept the loans the IMF even gave grace periods of 5 to 10 years when the loans need not get serviced, enticing the leaders to enjoy and put off the payment onto the shoulders of a future leader.

That is the process that has led to the build up of the foreign debt. 

Our former Prime Minister is kindly requested to read that book. Another book of mine: How the IMF’s Structural Adjustment Destroyed Sri Lanka has just been published in 2022 by Godages.

Our Mother land has been taken for a ride by the IMF who fooled President Jayawardena and how to get back will never be done by pleading to the IMF.

Hark back to the United National Party policies of Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake when he ruled in 1965 to 1970 when every dollar that came in was collected very strictly and used to fund essentials first and small allocations were given to get down cars and other necessaries. Then there were no grants for foreign studies abroad.   That is a blue print to follow- the only blue print that will take our country out of this morass.

Garvin Karunaratne

Ph.D.Michigan State University

It may be of interest to note that in 2015, our foreigndebt was at