'Cannot agree to IMF report without scrutiny' Sajith tells President

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament on Wednesday (22) that he can only speak with the creditors, both multilateral and bilateral, and the private bondholders only if the Parliament is prepared to accept the IMF report.

He urged the house to accept the report, and if there are any issues, it can be discussed with the IMF when the delegation returns to Sri Lanka.

However, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa noted that the report and the presentation by the President is not means to agree to the program proposed by the IMF.

"We cannot agree without proper examination and scrutiny, and a proper parliamentary debate," he added while requesting to sit in parliament and listen to the proposals that the opposition puts forward during the debate on the IMF report.

He said the opposition is not ready to approve anything without proper examination and scrutiny.

However, the President said the house should respond to him by the third week of April whether the parliament would approve the report, so that he could engage in the second round of talks with the IMF.