COLOMBO: Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament on Tuesday that Sri Lanka will organise a donor conference of friendly countries like India, China and Japan once a staff-level deal is reached with the IMF on a bailout package, as the economic crisis-hit island nation seeks to create an aid consortium.

Addressing Parliament on the roadmap of the government to address the economic crisis, Wickremesinghe also said India had to limit the loan assistance to Sri Lanka due to the recent global crises, including the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war.

“After obtaining the staff-level agreement, we will organise a donor-aid conference by bringing together the friendly countries that provide us with loan assistance, such as India, China and Japan. We hope to create a system where we can get loan assistance through a common agreement,” he said.

Among the problems the country is facing today, the primary issue is the fuel crisis, he said. “At the same time, we are also facing the problem of food availability. In terms of fuel and food, our country was going to have to face this crisis at some point in time. Fuel was scarce. Food prices went up,” he added. “Due to the recent global crises, this situation has become more acute and we who were in the frying pan fell into the oven...This situation is not unique to us. This affects other countries as well. India and Indonesia are also affected by this global crisis. Therefore, India has had to limit the loan assistance given to us,” he added.

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