The People’s Liberation Front (JVP), led by Marxist presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, announced on Sunday that if elected, it would not cancel Sri Lanka’s $2.9 billion IMF bailout agreement but instead plans to renegotiate the terms.
Despite the agreement’s unpopularity, the party aims to retain the deal while pushing for key amendments, according to party politburo member Bimal Ratnayake.
Ratnayake emphasized that while the IMF program is binding, there is room for renegotiation. “We will not tear up the IMF program. It is a binding document, but there is a provision to renegotiate,” he told AFP. Dissanayaka has promised to reduce income taxes, doubled under current President Ranil Wickremesinghe, and lower sales taxes on essential items like food and medicine.
The party’s assurance comes amid concerns from political rivals that Dissanayaka’s Marxist policies could destabilize Sri Lanka’s fragile economy by abandoning the bailout. However, the JVP maintains that adjustments to the IMF deal would allow them to reduce taxes while continuing with the four-year bailout plan.
Sri Lanka has been grappling with the aftermath of a severe economic crisis in 2022, which led to widespread shortages and mass protests, culminating in the ousting of then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Dissanayaka, if elected, seeks to stabilize the economy while navigating the geopolitical tensions between regional power India and China’s growing influence as Sri Lanka’s largest creditor.
