"Govt.’s bankruptcy so monumental it is selling its dignity"

(Mrach 11, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) UNP M.P. Lakshman Kiriella addressing a media briefing at the UNP media unit today (11 Mar) ,said the Rajapakse Govt. which proudly boasted they will not borrow from the International monetary Fund (IMF) is going with a begging bowl to the very Institution entreating the latter to give a loan of US $ 900 million. What can be inferred from this is that the Govt. has lost its sense of shame owing to its abysmal bankruptcy with the foreign reserves drastically dropping so much so that it cannot go on for more than month on the present bleak reserves position.

Where are all the so called patriots , the JHU and NFF who made a big din about developing the country’s own resources and wealth gone and hidden ? he asked. How can anybody or any country trust the credibility of this Govt. and its Central Bank when they are lying at very turn and every hour of the day ?. The Central Bank Governor who earlier said , Govt. needs no funds as they are sure to collect $ 600 million by Diaspora bonds could not collect even 1% of the sum. Neither the investors and foreign countries who can help nor the Sri Lankan Diaspora have any faith in this Govt. Even as the Govt. is begging for the loan from the IMF , the Central Bank Governor continued to say, just a week earlier that they will not take a loan from the IMF. In circumstances of such shameless and openly deceitful enunciations of the Govt. itself and the Central Bank Governor ,the investors too who invested in Treasury bonds have withdrawn $ 425 million out of a total of US$ 600 million as they are suspicious of the genuineness of Central Bank statements and statistics , he observed.

He recalled the US $ 450,000 million loan offered on a platter sans interest to Ranil Wickremesinghe during his tenure in Office at the Tokyo Donor conference comprising 52 countries . This was because they had implicit confidence in the UNP Govt. , he asserted. -Sri Lanka Guardian