The central bank chief said the election could actually stall the country's tentative recovery from the crisis.
Sri Lanka is only just emerging from its worst economic crisis, in 2022, which saw massive shortages of essential goods like food, fuel and medicines.
Dr Manikkege later found out the Suwa Seriya ambulance service – a gift from neighbouring India in 2016 that the World Bank said is among the globe’s most efficiently run – had been underfunded and severely short-staffed sincethat caused hyperinflation and loss of livelihood as well as massive shortages of essential goods like food, fuel and medicines that the island nation could not afford to import. The economy shrank by 7.3 per cent that year.
Every ambulance requires one driver and two emergency medical technicians who are paid 35,000 Sri Lankan rupees and 55,000 Sri Lankan rupees a month, respectively. Of its nearly 1,500 staff, around 400 have quit since 2022, forcing 56 of its 322 ambulances out of service, according to Mr Dumindra Ratnayaka, chairman of the Suwa Seriya Foundation.
Mr Wickremesinghe has said he will seek another term as president. His challengers could be Mr Sajith Premadasa, the urbane son of a former president, and a small socialist alliance that has grown popular after the crisis. Mr Wickremesinghe’s rivals have indicated they want to renegotiate terms of the IMF bailout, reduce taxes and increase food and energy subsidies.
As long as there are no abrupt policy changes after the election, the Asian Development Bank forecasts the economy to record moderate growth of 1.9 per cent in 2024 and 2.5 per cent in 2025. Among the poor, minority communities like the Tamils, Muslims and up-country Tamils who labour in tea plantations, face the worst financial stressors, on top of their continued marginalisation in a Sinhala majority nation, Mr Kadirgamar told The Straits Times.
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