Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal via a tweet issued a rebuttal to yesterday’s Daily FT’s exclusive feature of leaders of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and top economists’ call to defer foreign debt repayment via rescheduling and use scarce resources to meet essential imports.
In a tweet, Cabraal said” “The individuals who screamed that Sri Lanka wouldn’t be able to pay the $ 500 million ISB maturity on 22 January are now screaming that we shouldn’t pay it when we are ready to make payment.”
Cabraal added that “at the same time, Sri Lanka’s imports increased in 2021 to $ 21.6 billion, from $ 16.1 billion in 2020 and $ 19.9 billion in 2019.”
Whilst some viewed Cabraal’s tweet as unbecoming of a CBSL Governor, others opined that he was proving a point that imports remained robust at a record high in 2021 despite forex restrictions and scarcity.
(FT)