Cabinet has not seen IMF agreement

By Saman Indrajith

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena told Parliament yesterday that President Ranil Wickremeisnghe had informed him that the Cabinet and parliament would be appraised once a final decision was made on the understanding between Lankan government and the International Monetary Fund.The speaker was responding to a query raised by Chief Opposition Whip Kandy District MP Lakshman Kiriella the previous day.

The President has informed the Speaker that an agreement reached between the government and the IMF staff level meeting has to be approved by the IMF board and that approval would not be granted until the government completed its talks with creditors and other countries to obtain financial assistance to Sri Lanka.

In the past few weeks the opposition MPs have been urging the government to table the IMF staff level agreement in Parliament.Opposition MPs have claimed that it was reported that the government has reached an agreement with the IMF.The agreement must be tabled in Parliament if the government needs the support of all parties to implement the IMF-recommendations. The Opposition said the Parliament has authority on public finance therefore the staff-level agreement with the IMF should be tabled in Parliament.