The Hon. Sajith Premadasa - Leader of the Opposition

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, I will take some more minutes.

¶ 02 The current Government assumed office with a historic mandate. Your manifesto “A Prosperous Country, A Beautiful Life” promised an Alternative Debt Sustainability Analysis (ADSA) at page 105 as the basis for engaging the IMF. Yet upon taking office, you violated the mandate and immediately embraced the IMF program as-is. I ask: is the recent IMF understanding based on your ADSA or on the DSA pursued by President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s administration?

¶ 03 Moreover, the IMF’s own 2023 March Country Report states that resumption of debt service in 2033 would be adequate, including bilateral and ISBs. But under your arrangement, repayments restart in 2028—four years earlier. Can any government build sufficient economic strength within four years to resume such payments? This endangers the country.

¶ 04 This is a weak agreement—weak negotiation. You claim there was an announcement two days before the election and then say it was not signed but only an understanding. Consider Ghana. The same advisers—Lazard and Clifford Chance—negotiated for Ghana. They secured a 37 percent principal reduction and 6 percent interest. What about us? Under your scenario, between 2025–2027, with GDP assumed at USD 107 billion, we would pay USD 2.3 billion more than the outstanding debt; interest rises from 6.8 percent in 2028 to 9.5 percent by 2032. If Ghana could reject the first ISB proposal and get a better deal, why can’t we?

¶ 05 You show a headline haircut, but overall payments increase under your path. Ghana and Sri Lanka are both lower-middle-income countries. Supporting this agreement raises debt burden, hardship, and poverty. More revenue is diverted from education, health, agriculture, fisheries and industry to debt service.

¶ 06 There is still time. ISB holders have until December 12 to indicate consent. We are ready to cooperate: convene Parliament before the 12th; table the ISB agreement; debate and take a vote. Like Ghana, we can jointly say: “We do not agree to this; we will pursue a better ISB agreement.” We will help.

¶ 07 Remember comparability of treatment: the EPF/ETF and domestic savers were already hit in domestic restructuring; we voted against that then. How can you now embrace an inferior external deal? Let us unite for the country: bring it to Parliament before the 12th; we will debate, vote, and reject a deal that locks us into a perpetual debt trap.

¶ 08 Finally, SMEs are the backbone of growth. The temporary suspension of parate ends on December 15. Extend the suspension and implement a structured program: address NPLs, blacklisting, access to capital and working capital for viable enterprises.