Sri Lanka is currently experiencing the worst ever economic crisis since independence and it is the general belief of many economic analysts that the root cause for it goes back to many decades and all successive governments should be held responsibile for the present economic situation in the country.
We were a colony of the British Empire for over thirteen decades and won independence in 1948 under the leadership of D. S. Senanayake. By the time we won independence, we were a debt free nation. Our history records reveal that we had financially helped even Great Britain when they were faced with difficulties.
Since independence up to about the late fifties we never sought financial assistance from the outside world to carry out our domestic development activities.
Large scale agricultural projects such as the Senanayake Samudraya and Galoya Multi purpose schemes were successfully completed by the then Government with the resources available in the country.
After winning independence the country established very cordial relationships with foreign countries and various international organisations whose main purpose is to help their member countries who need financial help for their development activities with a properly regulated repayment plan with an affordable interest rates.
From the early nineteen sixties we obtained foreign financial assistance for our domestic activities and settled the loans with the interest stipulated by the donor agencies. Since then all successive governments obtained financial assistance from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, JAICA, and other donor agencies to fulfill our domestic needs.
In this scenario our debt burden drastically widened and with the Easter attack followed by the Corona pandemic the country’s economy was badly affected and our export earnings reduced to abysmal levels while the influx of foreign remittances dropped substantially and the foreign exchange earnings through tourist trade completely ceased.
Besides all these negative circumstances the Government of the day headed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had taken a number of wrong economic policy decisions which directly affected the economy resulting in shortages of all essential goods such as fuel, gas, supply of electricity and all essential day-to-day food items.
Commencement of Aragalaya
There was a protest against the Government from the beginning of year 2022 and gradually it gathered momentum with the infiltration of some bankrupt political groups and finally it turned out to be a violent force which threatened the President and the Government.
In this utter chaotic situation the government was forced to step down and the President had to flee the country to save his life.
A few days prior to his departure, abiding by the constitutional provisions President Gotabaya Rajapaksa invited the Opposition Leader to form a new Government, but the main Opposition and some other leaders declined to accept the challenge due to lack of confidence with sheer cold feet.
The solo parliamentarian in theHouse the Leader of the United National Party Ranil Wickremesinghe boldly accepted the challenge as he was quite confident of guiding the nation in this chaotic situation with his ocean of knowledge and experience in handling State affairs amidst crisis.
After a constitutionally mandated procedure Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected as the eighth Executive President of Sri Lanka by a substantial majority of parliamentarians. He immediately took steps to disperse the unruly crowds from the city and apprehended the political hooligans who were involved in destructive activities. Law and order were established within matter of hours.
Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Opposition member repeatedly told the Government to seek IMF assistance to get out of this economic mess which unfortunately looked down upon by the Rajapaksa regime.
Soon after assuming office as the President he began negotiations with the IMF and all other friendly donor agencies and requested them to help us in reviving the economy. We are indebted to the world a huge amount of money with the loans obtained by the successive governments during the last number of decades and since we had officially declared a failed nation it was not easy for the Government to obtain further financial assistance.
Systematic approach
However, President Wickremesinghe’s systematic approach and effective and professional manner in handling affairs paved the way for Sri Lanka to obtain further financial assistance from the IMF which facilitated immensely for other donor agencies also to grant relief measures to Sri Lanka.
The IMF has laid down some conditions to Sri Lanka with regard to the collection of revenue such as imposing new taxes and various levies.
Government decided to lower the bank interest rates along with this economic program.
With President Wickremesinghe’s aggressive economic program of work during the last one and a half years the Government provided some relief measures to the public but at the same time it is quite obvious that the cost of living has unbearably gone up and some sections of the society find it difficult to meet both ends.
Middle class senior citizens
There is a substantial number of middle class senior citizens who were employed in the private sector, and currently retired and depending on the monthly bank interest of their meagre savings. During the Yahapalana regime Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake introduced a new interest rate of 15 percent up to Rs. 1.5 million. It was a welcome move by the Government and private sector retired employees were happy as they got a fairly reasonable amount monthly for their savings deposits of Rs. 1.5 million.
Private sector retired employees at the termination of their service deposit their savings in the State Banks with the intention of getting a fairly reasonable amount at the end of the month for their subsistence. This section of the society which counts up to almost one million do not enjoy any other benefits such as Aswesuma or financial assistance as they had been employed in the past.
Defunct financial lnstitutions
Yet another severest blow dealt on these helpless senior citizens was the closure of some financial institutions such as The Finance PLC where these senior citizens had deposited their lifelong savings and due to the internal problems of the companies most of them became defunct leaving the innocent depositors in the lurch. It is learnt that some of these depositors had been driven to utter pathetic situations and a few had even tried to commit suicide as they had no other means of survival. These depositors had repeatedly requested the authorities to grant them some relief to no avail.
Drastic change in the economy
Due to the present economic situation in the country the Government was reluctantly compelled to take some measures which affect the livelihood of everybody. Pruning of interest rates on senior citizens has affected most of these people depend on regular dosage of medicinal drugs in addition to nutrients.
Most of these people are in the evening of their lives and request the Government to reconsider restoring the bank interest paid on their savings as they find it extremely difficult to manage with the paltry sum they get with the reduction of interest rates.
These depositors had formed organisations to present their grievances to the authorities and the sentiments expressed by them at discussions and media briefings clearly elucidate that they are fully aware and quite knowledgeable about the present economic situation of the country and should undergo and sustain difficulties temporarily until the economy becomes fairly stabilised but unfortunately since they have no other means of survival they repeatedly request the Government to look into the matter on humanitarian grounds and provide some relief with an enhanced interest rate with the little savings they hold in banks.
