INR: Sri Lanka may start using Indian currency like the US dollar, says President Wickremesinghe
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: A week after a grateful Sri Lankan Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena thanked India for “saving us…and averting a bloodbath” during the political and economic turmoil in 2022, the island nation’s President has said his country may start using the Indian rupee just like the US dollar.
Sri Lanka would want to see the Indian rupee used as much as the US dollar, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said, days ahead of his first official visit to New Delhi next week.
He took over from his fugitive predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa amid unprecedented political and economic turmoil, including default on international debts. The 74-year-old Sri Lankan politician was elected through parliament to fill in the rest of the term of the ousted president, who later returned to Sri Lanka.
President Wickremesinghe, who is also the cash-strapped country’s finance minister, made this remark while addressing the Indian CEOs’ Forum in Colombo on Thursday.
“Just as East Asia, including countries like Japan, Korea, and China, witnessed significant growth 75 years ago, it is now India’s turn, along with the Indian Ocean region,” he said.
His comments came in response to the chair of the Forum, T S Prakash, who had called for the enhanced use of the Indian rupee in the Sri Lankan economy.
“It makes no difference to us if it (the Indian rupee) becomes a common currency. We will have to figure out how to go about it. We must become more open to the outside world,” the President said.
“The world is evolving and India is undergoing rapid development, particularly under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership,” he added.
President Wickremesinghe said that Sri Lanka benefits from its proximity to India, coupled with a rich history, cultural heritage, and longstanding trading relationships spanning 2,500 years, The Daily Mirror newspaper quoted him as saying.
The President, who steered the island nation out of the economic crisis, said the economy is recovering slowly.
“Once we complete debt-structuring our focus will shift towards a comprehensive growth agenda. This entails a massive overhaul of our economy, legal framework, and systems aligning our path with that of India,” he said.
India had thrown a lifeline in the last days of the Rajapaksa presidency with an economic assistance package worth nearly USD 4 billion.
Sri Lanka used the Indian credit lines to import essentials and fuel as the country was gripped in forex shortages which triggered massive street protests and political upheaval forcing the dominant Rajapakse family to flee.
Meanwhile, Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Gopal Bagle, who was at the July 13 event, said New Delhi and the Indian business community helped the island nation in recuperating from the last year’s financial crisis.
“Even during the initial crisis, Indian businessmen began doing business in Sri Lanka to demonstrate to the rest of the world that the country’s financial status is stable,” Bagle said, according to the media reports.
