President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Friday dismissed concerns that Sri Lanka’s deepening rupee slide could trigger a repeat of the 2022 economic collapse, saying foreign reserves and the country’s external position were now in a “significantly stronger” place.
“2022 will not happen again. We will resolve this issue,” the President said, speaking at the resumption of construction on the Nindavur Cultural Centre in the Ampara District, Newswire reported. In remarks published Saturday by Daily FT, the President added: “Some people claim that this situation is similar to 2022. It is not. In 2022, we did not even have rupees. In 2022, the Central Bank had no dollars either. That is not the case today.”
He told the audience the Central Bank now held “nearly USD 7,000 million in reserves” compared with about USD 50 million when the country defaulted in 2022, framing the buffer as sufficient to absorb the current external shock. He acknowledged that Middle East tensions and other global pressures were pushing up import costs and weighing on the rupee but insisted the situation remained “manageable”.
“This is an external situation outside our control. But we are able to face it,” he said.
The President also gave a direct guarantee on essential imports — the category of shortage that defined the 2022 crisis. “We will not allow shortages of fuel, gas, milk powder or fertiliser. I give you that assurance,” he said. Milk powder prices were raised earlier this week on the back of the rupee’s depreciation, and the JAAF has flagged dollar-pressure constraints on fuel imports.
The presidential reassurance lands as the rupee trades around Rs.354 at commercial banks and as the CBSL has formally engaged forex dealers on tighter market regulations. Opposition leader Harsha de Silva on Wednesday described the market as “frozen” with no bid-offer spread, while Deputy Finance Minister Anil Jayantha pushed back on Thursday calling the depreciation a structural reset rather than a crisis. The IMF’s Krishna Srinivasan and Peter Papageorgiou have separately said Sri Lanka’s policy framework is “considerably stronger than in past” episodes ahead of the Fund’s May 27 board review.
The President said stabilising the economy, equal application of the law, anti-corruption work and curbs on political privilege remained the government’s core mandate, and progress was being made on each.
