COLOMBO – Sri Lanka will soon completely stop printing money to control rising commodity prices.
The announcement was made by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in a session in Parliament, at the time when the country’s inflation is expected to hit 60 per cent this year.
“Our plan is to control inflation because by the end of this year, the inflation rate will increase by 60 percent.
“Next year, we have to print money strictly several times.
“However, by the end of 2024, we intend to stop printing money completely,” he said.
Wickremesinghe announced the plan after holding bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Sri Lanka is facing its worst financial crisis in seven decades.
Colombo is also struggling to find funds to finance the most important imports such as fuel, food and medicines.
As many as 22 million people in the archipelago are experiencing soaring inflation and prolonged energy cuts after the country’s foreign currency was used up to import essential goods.
In the meantime, Wickremesinghe said, the plan aims to reduce the inflation rate to between four to six percent by 2025.
He also admitted that Sri Lanka had participated in negotiations with the IMF as a bankrupt country.
Wickremesinghe said the government planned to submit a debt restructuring plan for IMF approval by the end of next month.
He added that the move to stop printing money was in line with the fund’s expectations
