By: Isuru Parakrama
Colombo (LNW): The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) warned that the Sri Lankan Rupee despite its rapid growth in the present will be subject to depreciation soon after the debt repayment resumes and import restrictions are relaxed.
Speaking to reporters in Hanwella yesterday (10), SJB National Organiser Tissa Attanayake said the current economic stability is only temporary due to the imposition of import restrictions and the suspension of foreign debt repayments.
Attanayake comments tally with many analysts’ warning that the recent appreciation of the Sri Lankan Rupee being ‘artificial’ is a result of the burrowings amounting to US $ 500 million at an interest of 25 per cent from various external parties.
Over the first half of 2023, the Sri Lankan Rupee has appreciated by about Rs. 70 against the US Dollar, under what analysts describe as ‘hot money’ inflows.
The SJB National Organiser emphasised that he does not believe that the country’s current situation is stable, adding that the Sri Lankan Rupee is very likely to depreciate again, once the debt repayment resumes and import restrictions are relaxed.
