COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday warned of more economic pain to come for the crisis-hit nation, with strict austerity measures needed to restore its ruined finances after an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout deal.
The Washington, D.C.-based multilateral lender approved its long-delayed rescue package on Monday after China, the South Asian island's biggest bilateral lender, offered debt relief assurances.Wickremesinghe lauded the deal in a speech to parliament as a milestone in Sri Lanka's recovery from last year's unprecedented economic crisis.But he also told lawmakers that the bailout was only the first step in more difficult structural reforms.
The island nation's 22 million people endured months of food and petrol shortages, along with runaway inflation and prolonged blackouts, as a result.Wickremesinghe has sought to restore government coffers by implementing sharp tax hikes and ending generous consumer subsidies on fuel and electricity.
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