Lanka will not face economic danger – CB Governor

Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy said eventhough Sri Lanka faces difficulties with the bunching up of debt payments, the country had never missed a payment and was not in economic danger.

“The situation can be managed,” the Central Bank Governor said.

The Governor was delivering the keynote address to a group of mid-career capital based diplomats representing over 23 countries across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Australasia who are in Sri Lanka now, during the Economic Diplomacy segment of the session at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKI).

He said that recent Sri Lankan policies had improved the architecture for liability management and provided more headroom and stability in managing external debt obligations.

The two week visit, as part of the Sri Lanka Foreign Policy and Economic Diplomacy Dialogue organised by the Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the Bandaranaike International Diplomatic Training Institute (BIDTI) and the LKI. The Foreign Ministry’s Additional Secretary for Economic Affairs and Trade Ravinatha Aryasinha chaired the session.

Officials from Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brazil, China, Cuba, Egypt, India, Kenya, Malaysia,the Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Palestine, Senegal, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam are attending the sessions.

They were also briefed on the outcome of the recently concluded track 1.5 conference on the ‘Indian Ocean: Defining Our Future’, held in Colombo on October 11-12 to discuss issues related to regional economic development and maritime security.

The diplomats made study visits to the Port City, the Colombo Harbour, the Nanotechnology Institute in Homagama, and the University of Moratuwa. The participants will visit the Brandix Green Plant, Gannoruwa Agriculture Department Spice Park, the tea auctions, Kandy, Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya and Galle, and Passikudha and the Minneriya Nature Reserve.

(Source: Daily News)