Statement made by the Leader of the United National Party, former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today (14/07/2021/2021) regarding the current economic crisis in the country.

“Sri Lanka today is mired in an economic crisis centered on a foreign exchange deficit. At present our foreign exchange reserves are $ 4 billion. After paying US $1 billion in bond servicing in the middle of the year, the Treasury has only US $3 billion in reserves left. In addition, the CPC is stuck with US $1.3 billion in unpaid dollar bills.
There are no dollars in our commercial banks today. Our banks are in debt. Those figures have not been released. But according to unofficial reports, it is around US $3 billion.
Accordingly, the total amount of debt we currently have to repay is US $4.3 billion. But we only have US $3 billion. What will be left in the country’s treasury when the country pays off the US $3 billion and more than US $1 billion in instalments before the end of the year?

A known financial crisis has been created in the country.
The government imposed import restrictions as there was no money to import goods into the country. The farmer was told to buy organic manure. The government is telling farmers to choose organic fertilizers due to lack of funds for them to purchase non-organic fertilizer and for no other reason.

We don’t have the US dollars to pay for an oil tanker that has docked at the Colombo Port. If you don’t pay dollars, this ship will take the oil that is due here. Therefore, the government is looking for dollars so that they can purchase this oil.