Ranil Wickremesinghe grateful to India, QUAD States for taking the lead to help Sri Lanka

As India and other QUAD members have offered assistance to Sri Lanka which is facing the worst economic crisis in its history, the Prime Minister of the country, Ranil Wickremesinghe expressed his gratitude for the support. On Friday, he said that his country appreciates India and QUAD's support for the island nation during these tough times. He also claimed that he spoke with India's finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman and expressed the country's gratitude to India for its assistance.

PM Ranil Wickremesinghe also stated that he expressed his gratitude for Japan's good responses to the proposal for the Quad countries, which includes the United States, India, Japan and Australia to take the lead in setting up a foreign aid consortium to assist Sri Lanka during the economic crisis.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister met with agricultural sector representatives

The Sri Lankan Prime Minister also claimed that he met with agricultural sector representatives to discuss the issues posed by imminent food shortages, particularly the need for USD 600 million to secure enough fertilizer supplies, which they are trying to address. He further said that he also addressed the Essential Agricultural Supplies Act, which he intends to introduce in Parliament in order to secure the continuous supply and distribution of agricultural materials.

He also said, "I virtually connected with the IMF Team where we discussed an economic program that could be supported by an IMF Lending arrangement. We are looking to fast track the talks and finalize the arrangement by Mid June as this becomes a crucial step to find concrete solutions to the problems we are facing."

He also met with Treasury and Economic Advisers

Wickremesinghe further said that over the last few days, he has met with Chamber of Commerce representatives, as well as Treasury and Economic Advisers to discuss a new budget and long-term economic goals. He claimed that this week, he visited officials from the Central Bank as well as local and international lenders and talked about the significant possibility of rising international interest rates, as well as the serious danger of current global food price increases. The Prime Minister also said that the meeting to discuss the draft 21st Amendment was conducted on May 27 for party leaders to share their thoughts on the draft amendment.

Image: @RW_UNP/Twitter