Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was sworn in as finance minister on Wednesday, will lead negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package for the island country which has plunged into what many say is its worst economic crisis since its independence.

The debt-ridden country defaulted on its external loan obligations for the first time in its history as it ran out of dollars, which also resulted in a shortage of fuel, food, and medicine. Currently, Colombo is engaged with multilateral and bilateral lenders for assistance.

Since the fall of the previous government earlier this month, the country was without any finance minister until Wednesday, when President Gotabaya Rajapaksa gave the charge of the finance ministry to the prime minister.

The impact of the crisis is so severe that the government has been left with no revenues even in rupees, forcing it to print another trillion just to pay off the salaries of public sector employees.

“We have no rupee revenue and have to print another trillion rupees,” said Wickremesinghe, who will soon start negotiations with the IMF. Reports said that the government had already appointed some leading finance consultants for its debt restructuring talks with the IMF.

Meanwhile, an industry association, the Sri Lanka United National Businesses Alliance (SLUNBA), has warned that around 4.5 million workers employed in 4,500 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) may lose their jobs in the coming months if the crisis is left unaddressed.

"The government can print money to pay the government sector, but we have no option left to pay the salaries,” Tanya Abesundara, the chairman of the SLUNBA), was quoted as saying by Daily Mirror.

Industries are under pressure as the Central Bank has refused to provide any temporary exemption in paying the installments of their loans. Foreign airlines operating flights in Sri Lanka have started reducing their operations, citing the scarcity of fuel. Already, several flights are being diverted to Chennai in India, Singapore, and Dubai for refueling.

Despite support from the World Bank, hospitals across the country are facing a shortage of over 76 varieties of essential medicines. 

(SAM)