Source UCA

HONG KONG, SAR: Church leaders have joined hands with rights advocates to urge the Sri Lankan government to renegotiate its agreements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), arguing that strict spending conditions have weakened the state’s response to the recent flood disaster.

More than 100 individuals—including representatives of 38 rights-based organizations, academics, lawyers, economists, policy analysts, environmentalists, and 11 Catholic nun social workers—submitted an appeal to the government on Dec. 9 calling for an immediate review of IMF conditions.

The signatories asked the government to seek revisions that would allow the reinstatement of energy and fuel subsidies, the removal of indirect taxes, and an increase in social welfare spending, which has been cut to just 0.6 percent of GDP under the current IMF program.

Brito Fernando, a trade unionist and human rights activist, said it was “hard to believe” that a country still reeling from a historic financial collapse is now facing one of its worst-ever natural disasters with limited fiscal capacity.

“The IMF programs emphasize on-time debt repayment and deficit reduction through spending cuts. That means the budget allocated for the poor is simply not reaching them,” said Fernando, who signed the appeal.

Sri Lanka’s economic constraints have hit the poor hardest, he said, especially after Cyclone Dithwa triggered heavy rains and record floods in late November, destroying nearly 20,000 homes and millions of dollars’ worth of crops.

Fernando, a Catholic, said IMF restrictions had effectively made the “government of Sri Lanka a prisoner,” unable to spend adequately on social protection at a time of national crisis.

Some 233,000 people remain in government shelters and depend entirely on public funds for daily needs. The floods also wiped out key transport links, including bridges and several hundred kilometers of roads, which will require significant state investment to rebuild.

Local reports say Sri Lanka has sought 150.5 million IMF Special Drawing Rights in emergency assistance for flood recovery, a request that is currently under review.

Holy Family Sister Deepa Fernando, another signatory, said the government must prioritize negotiations with the IMF to secure more flexibility for social spending, insisting that “people’s welfare should come before anything else.”

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa also emphasized the need for renegotiation, arguing that Sri Lanka’s current debt-repayment plan is unrealistic.

“It would be impractical to repay the country’s foreign debt by 2028. This needs to be conveyed clearly to the IMF,” he said at a Dec. 11 press briefing.

Economist and policy consultant Sarath Athalage told UCA News that the government faces a severe dilemma.

“On one side, there is a big debt burden; on the other, there are constraints on providing welfare services to disaster-affected poorer sections of people,” said Athalage, a Christian.