President Ranil Wickremesinghe Emphasizes Immediate Reforms in Global Financial Structure

President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Third South Summit in Kampala, Uganda. Also present were Deputy Prime Minister of Somalia Salah Jama; South Africa's Minister of Foreign Affairs Naledi Pandor and Acting Foreign Minister of the Republic of Sudan Ambassador Ali Al-Sadiq.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, addressing the Third South Summit in Kampala, Uganda, highlighted the world's numerous challenges, such as conflicts, pandemic repercussions, climate disasters and financial market uncertainties. The President also emphasized the disproportionate impact on vulnerable G77 economies.

In his statement, President Ranil Wickremesinghe stressed the urgency of reforming the global financial architecture. The President also pointed out that the contemporary international debt resolution architecture is more suited for a world where the Paris Club and London Club dominate global debt resolution. International bond markets dominate global debt, particularly debt in the developing world and non-Paris Club lenders.

The President lamented the diversion of financial resources to debt service, hindering spending on essential public services and human development, impacting Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets. He criticized the Common Framework for its inability to provide speedy debt resolution, causing delays in addressing recent sovereign debt distress in many G77 countries.