CHALLENGES BEFORE THE NEW SRI LANKAN GOVERNMENT
The New Indian Express Tirunelveli|December 16, 2024
The Dissanayake-led NPP has committed to reducing government expenditure, but how economic consolidation will take shape in the coming year and beyond is still unclear
DILRUKSHI HANDUNNETTI
CHALLENGES BEFORE THE NEW SRI LANKAN GOVERNMENT

N 2024, Sri Lanka witnessed seismic political shifts. In the second half of this year, voters installed a hitherto untried president and a new government, with the fervent hope that the old order should give way to a better new order. It's taken the rather conservative Sri Lankan voters 76 years to move away from feudal parties and experiment with a party mostly remembered for two violent uprisings in the South. The September and November electoral results would appear to be the culmination of the 2022 political unrest that demanded a "system change".

Since the assumption of office, both the president and his government appear to have eased themselves into work without fanfare and focus on immediate tasks. The very first was to avoid disruption to normalcy. As the government marks its first month in office, it has ensured continuity through the International Monetary Fund (IMF) formula—prudent, given that the island's economy is in tatters and requires much repair.

On December 3, President Anura Dissanayake made the government's policy statement, which contained a practical acceptance of the agreement with the IMF reached by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, with a commitment to implement it in full. The President told parliament the island's economy was hanging by a thread and there was no room for any mistakes. For a man mandated to introduce radical economic and political changes to Sri Lanka, it cannot come easy. During the presidential election campaign, Dissanayake vowed to renegotiate the IMF bail-out to ensure austerity measures do not weigh too heavily on the island's poor. His was a mandate to snap out of the rejected economic model of multilateral borrowing. Easier said than done, as Dissanayake and his team soon found out.

Bu hikaye The New Indian Express Tirunelveli dergisinin December 16, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye The New Indian Express Tirunelveli dergisinin December 16, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS TIRUNELVELI DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
The New Indian Express Tirunelveli

BOXING DAY TEST: EYE ON REDEFINING MELBOURNE IDENTITY

Rohit and Co would hope to save series with dominant performance against hosts

time-read
3 dak  |
December 25, 2024
The New Indian Express Tirunelveli

BOXING DAY TEST: EYE ON REDEFINING MELBOURNE IDENTITY

Rohit and Co would hope to save series with dominant performance against hosts

time-read
6 dak  |
December 25, 2024
The New Indian Express Tirunelveli

Deol's ton helps India seal series

HARLEEN DEOL'S maiden hundred set the foundation and India sealed the ODI series with a 115-run win over the West Indies.

time-read
1 min  |
December 25, 2024
The New Indian Express Tirunelveli

Cranbrook to MCG, the rise and rise of teenager Konstas

ON the eve of New South Wales' first Sheffield Shield match of the season against South Australia at Cricket Central in Sydney, Sam Konstas was sitting with his batting coach Tahmid Islam for dinner.

time-read
3 dak  |
December 25, 2024
The New Indian Express Tirunelveli

Timely lift for Haryana shuttler

DEVIKA SIHAG is stoked at the moment. She had a valid reason to be.

time-read
1 min  |
December 25, 2024
The New Indian Express Tirunelveli

India to play matches in Dubai, Pak tie on Feb 23

FINALLY, the International Cricket Council on Tuesday announced the much-awaited schedule of the 2025 Champions Trophy.

time-read
1 min  |
December 25, 2024
The New Indian Express Tirunelveli

Excited with pack of pacers in SA20

WITH the third edition of the SA20 coming soon, the Ambassador of the franchise league and former South African fast bowler Allan Donald believes the new crop of pace bowlers coming from his home country are the ones to watch out for.

time-read
1 min  |
December 25, 2024
The New Indian Express Tirunelveli

PM Modi meets economists ahead of Budget

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday interacted with a group of economists and thought leaders in preparation for the Union Budget at NITI Aayog.

time-read
1 min  |
December 25, 2024
The New Indian Express Tirunelveli

Air traffic record high, IndiGo leads the pack

INDIAN airlines carried a record 1.42 crore passengers on domestic routes in November 2024, marking the highest-ever monthly traffic.

time-read
1 min  |
December 25, 2024
The New Indian Express Tirunelveli

Recharge plans for voice calls, messages to benefit customer, not telcos

THE Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) recent directive to have recharge plans exclusively for voice calls and messages without any compulsion to buy internet data will benefit customers not much to telecom service providers, say industry experts.

time-read
1 min  |
December 25, 2024