Three years at a thankless task

President Anura Kumara Disanayake lights the traditional oil lamp at the launch of Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardana’s (right) book titled “Sri Lanka’s economic revival – Reflection on the journey from crisis to recovery.” Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe is also present

Three years ago was literally one of Sri Lanka’s darkest hours – hour by hour the lights went out across Sri Lanka. Power cuts and fuel queues reigned supreme. Neither Government, nor the military could conquer them. The private sector was equally powerless. The country was on the verge of anarchy. 

The Rajapaksa Government’s hubris, greed and ignorance had come home to roost, the economy was collapsing from within. Those who were in charge – a cunning but spineless bureaucrat, an unethical accountant and an economist whose ideas were caught in the cobwebs of time – were nowhere to be found. Nor were the media barons who abused the public airwaves to peddle their pump-and-dump capitalism. The Rajapaksas and their fellow-travellers killed journalists, killed their political enemies, killed civilians and finally they killed the economy. Creditors were at Sri Lanka’s doorstep and Sri Lanka’s friends, who had been snubbed, refused to get their hands burnt again, or support our own goal policies. 

At this treacherous hour, three years ago to this very day, two sons of Lanka – Nandalal Weerasinghe and Mahinda Siriwardana – answered her call. Casting aside their well-earned retirement, they took on the thankless task of steering our economy out of its worst crisis since the economic collapse of the 1970s. When they took charge, the Government did not even have enough money to buy a single shipment of fuel. The Treasury was empty. It was not sure if it could pay public sector wages. For some days it looked like salary payments would be split into two payments. 

Today, Sri Lanka’s debt has been restructured, the economy has stabilised, reserves are healthy and growth has returned. This crisis will likely cost a decade, but without the wisdom and effort of these two men, it would have cost us a generation. Our unusually complex debt negotiations were completed much more swiftly than expected, inflation was tamed and reforms were pushed through a sclerotic system. The framework they put in place with the IMF has continued across successive Governments. 

Their legacy is not in headlines, in fuel and electricity that are again taken for granted, or in a country that is beginning to stand on its feet again. It is simply the fact that crisis no longer dominates every conversation. That is the true measure of national service—when the system quietly endures, long after the panic has passed. 

We Sri Lankans are swift to complain and slow to praise, unless, of course, the one being praised has the power to extend favour. Our memories are even weaker. But today, let us all pause for a moment, and salute these two men, and the many others, like Indrajit Coomaraswamy, who toiled – without recognition, reward or thanks – to pull us out of this crisis.  

These are the type of men and women that Lanka needs; leaders of sobriety and seriousness, wisdom and expertise, leaders who work as a team, and above all, are focussed on completing whatever thankless task is given to them – come what may. The wisest and most important decision this Government made was to keep these two men, maintain their policy and listen to their advice.

We owe them thanks but we also owe them our vigilance. Never again should we allow silence, sycophancy and short-termism to rule the public square. If our republic is to flourish, we must learn to remember—and insist on—competence and integrity. That is these two men’s greatest gift to our land.