The President of Sri Lanka, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, has unveiled comprehensive
economic reforms to restore the fragile economy. Other critical actions involve increasing the tariffs of electricity and reorganizing the debt-ridden Ceylon Electricity Board to enhance productivity. Most significantly, Colombo has sanctioned a medical cannabis export project valued at 100 million dollars, aiming to penetrate pharmaceutical markets in North America and Europe, in its quest to increase foreign exchange returns.
The reforms are conditional as they are pegged with the IMF bailout program of 2.9 billion dollars. Although the move has been welcomed by international investors, trade unions and opposition groups have cautioned that the increasing living cost will further push ordinary citizens into poverty. The government maintains that the reforms are needed to avoid another economic meltdown.
