2023 will be ‘critical year’, plan to turn around the economy, says Sri Lanka President Wickremesinghe in New Year’s message

The Sri Lankan government in May last year declared a debt default on over $51 billion in the foreign loan - a first in the country's history.

Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Sunday said 2023 will be a “critical year” for the cash-strapped country, as his regime desperately scrambles to inject much-needed impetus to galvanise the beleaguered economy.

Sri Lanka was hit by an unprecedented financial crisis in 2022 due to a severe paucity in foreign exchange reserves that also sparked political turmoil in the island nation that led to the ouster of the all-powerful Rajapaksa family.

“We are looking at the New Year 2023 after having undergone the bleakest of times, immense hardships, as well as the uncertainties and hopelessness of the last year,” Mr. Wickremesinghe said in his New Year’s message, as Sri Lanka turns 75 as an independent nation later this year.

“I understand the great burdens that are placed on all of us and the setbacks that a majority of us have suffered due to the country’s abject economic collapse,” he said.

From April to July, chaos reigned supreme on Sri Lanka, with miles-long queues forming at fuel stations and irate residents coming out in thousands blocking roads with empty cooking gas cylinders.

The Sri Lankan government in May last year declared a debt default on over $51 billion in the foreign loan - a first in the country's history.

“Indeed, 2023 will be a critical year in which we plan to turn around the economy. 2023 is also the 75th year of independence from the British Empire,” he noted.