Finance Minister presides over crucial meeting to help Sri Lanka abate the current financial crisis
New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Milinda Moragoda in Delhi. Talks were held between the two to resolve the ongoing economic crisis in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Embassy in India said on its Twitter handle, “After the meeting held in mid-April, this is the second time that High Commissioner Moragoda has spoken to Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sri Lanka’s economic problems.”
The 37th Board Meeting of India-Sri Lanka also took place in New Delhi on Friday. It was presided over by Gopal Baglay, the Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka.
This is the first time since independence in 1948 that Sri Lanka’s economic situation is so bad. The reason behind this slowdown has been attributed to the shortage of foreign exchange, which was due to the stalled tourism in the Corona epidemic. The economic condition of Sri Lanka has become so bad that it has no money left to buy fuel. At the same time, people also have a lack of food and basic facilities. They have neither food nor cooking gas nor fuel. In February, India gave a loan of $ 500 million to Sri Lanka. Earlier in November 2021, India gave 100 tonnes of Nitrogen Liquid Fertilizer to Sri Lanka because the government there had banned the import of chemical fertilizer.
600 million dollars is needed – Wickremesinghe
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that $600 million is needed to ensure adequate supplies of fertilizers in Sri Lanka. He was discussing with the representatives of Agriculture Department. The officials present in the meeting informed the Prime Minister that if the dollars are released from the banks, the fertilizer companies will supply fertilizers as per the requirement.
The Prime Minister urged the delegates to increase agricultural produce so that food shortage could be avoided. The Prime Minister also told that he is about to introduce a new bill in Parliament. After the introduction of this bill, there will be no interruption in the supply.
