Shehan tells US officials SL has taken difficult but positive result-oriented decisions

Saturday, 14 January 2023 00:37 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe said that Sri Lanka has taken difficult but positive result-oriented decisions in economic recovery.

He said this in a discussion held this week at the Finance Ministry premises, with the US National Security Council (NSC) Senior Director for South Asia Eileen Laubacher who is here in Sri Lanka with a delegation and Ambassador to the US Julie Chung. The discussion mainly focused on the shared goals of economic recovery and stability for Sri Lanka.

Discussing the main impacts from the decisions taken, the State Minister emphasised that the country is in the process of long-term economic stabilisation with the new reforms in systems and transparency. He further expressed his gratitude towards the US for its continuous support for the needs of the country. Adding to that he thanked the US for the support with fertilisers and he invited the Director of NSC and the Ambassador to visit the rural areas during the cropping period to see how the support with fertilisers has impacted on the production. Moreover, the Director of NSC appreciated and admired the decisions taken to make sure the country is on its way towards a long-term economic stabilisation even though the decisions are harder and opposite. She further said that the US government will always support Sri Lanka as the discussion has given more focus on the shared values of democracy, promoting economic development, improving the global environment, and 75 years of partnership between the US and SL, including their support for Sri Lanka and our people in times of need.

Secretary to the Treasury Mahinda Siriwardana, Deputy Secretaries to the Treasury A.K. Senevirathne and R.M.P. Rathnayake, NSC Senior Director Eileen Laubacher, Ambassador of US Julie Chung, NSC Director, Brian Luti, Office of Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh State Department Director Scott Urbom, Embassy Notetaker Daniel Moon, and USAID Acting Country Director Debra Mosel were presented in the meeting.