Sumanthiran-led multi-party group ask Govt for rescheduling debts

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M.A. Sumanthiran who initiated two rounds of closed door meetings with party leaders and chairmen of three key parliamentary committees said the government would be asked to initiate a dialogue with its creditors and reschedule loan repayment to tide over the current crisis.

The two rounds of meetings were conducted on January 27 and the second on Thursday. Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, TNA leader R. Sampanthan, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader Rauff Hakeem are among the participants.

Besides, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MPs Dr. Harsha de Silva and Eran Wickramaratne, and National People’s Power (NPP) MP Harini Amarasuriya are among the participants.

Mr. Sumanthiran told Daily Mirror the participants resolved to propose to the government to reschedule loans after talks with the creditors. He said some foreign exchange would be left in the hands of the government after a debt reschedulement, and it should be used to import essentials for people including fuel and pharmaceuticals. Also, he stressed that the government’s social welfare measures should not be affected in the event of working out any arrangement with the creditors to reschedule loan repayments.

The TNA MP has initiated this action as the former chairman of the Public Finance Committee (PFC) of Parliament. Present PFC Chairman Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, COPE Chairman Charitha Herath and COPA Chairman Prof. Tissa Vitarana attended the meetings. (Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana)