"Throughout this journey, challenges will gradually dissipate, life's burdens will lighten, the economy will fortify:" Wickremesinghe

Budget-conscious The president stated in a speech on Sunday to commemorate independence day that Sri Lanka is "gradually" recovering from its greatest economic crisis as a result of the severity of an IMF bailout.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe opted for a succinct remark instead of the traditional yearly address, citing the "indignity of being labelled a financially bankrupt country".

A foreign exchange crisis prevented the island country from importing food, gasoline, and other necessities, which led to a default on its $46 billion international debt in 2022.

During the height of the economic crisis, months of social unrest in Sri Lanka resulted in the overthrow of the then-president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, after hundreds of protestors invaded his residence.

In March of last year, the International Monetary Fund began disbursing the first installment of a $2.9 billion, four-year bailout loan to Sri Lanka as part of a reform program that witnessed steep price increases and tax increases.

"Throughout this journey, challenges will gradually dissipate, life's burdens will lighten, the economy will fortify," Wickremesinghe stated.

According to Central Bank of Sri Lanka data, prices increased by more than six percent last month as a result of the government raising taxes by IMF requirements to keep the rescue financing in place.

The bank stated that the 6.4 percent level was much higher than the 4.0 percent recorded in December.

It is still less than a tenth of what was observed in 2022, during the height of the island's financial crisis, when inflation reached a peak of about seventy percent.

"We must obtain insights from past mistakes and avoid their repetition," Wickremesinghe stated.

End//voice7news.tv