COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s economy will “collapse beyond redemption” unless a new government is appointed within two days to restore political stability, the central bank chief said Wednesday.
He said the latest wave of mob violence derailed the bank’s recovery plans, and the resignation of the prime minister on Monday and the lack of a replacement were complicating matters.
He said political stability was vital to implementing economic reforms aimed at addressing the country’s debt crisis and the acute shortage of foreign exchange to import essentials.
“If there is no government in the next two days, the economy will completely collapse and no one will be able to save it,” Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said.
“The country was fast going down a slope when I took over just over a month ago. I thought we were able to apply the brakes, but with events of Monday the brakes no longer work.
“Within a week or two the economy will completely collapse. No one will be able to save Sri Lanka at that stage. My being here as governor will not help,” he said.
“I will resign if there is no immediate action to form a government.”
Shortly after taking over last month as the bank’s chief, Weerasinghe announced defaulting on Sri Lanka’s $51 billion external debt saying the country had no money to pay its creditors.
He almost doubled interest rates and allowed the rupee to depreciate rapidly to ensure better foreign exchange liquidity in the commercial banks.
Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948 after it ran out of dollars to import even the most essentials.
There had been long queues for fuel and food causing severe hardships for the nation’s 22 million people, prompting them to protest against the government.
“If we don’t have political stability, very soon we will run out of what little petrol and diesel left. At that point people will get on the streets to protest peacefully or violently,” Weerasinghe added.
This week, the crisis took an ugly turn with nine people killed in violence and more than 200 injured.
Sri Lanka economy will ‘collapse’ if no new govt in 2 days: central bank
https://arab.news/2d38q
Sri Lanka economy will ‘collapse’ if no new govt in 2 days: central bank
- “If there is no government in the next two days, the economy will completely collapse and no one will be able to save it,” Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor said
- Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948 after it ran out of dollars to import even the most essentials
Top UN court to hear Rohingya genocide case against Myanmar
THE HAGUE: Did Myanmar commit genocide against its Rohingya Muslim minority? That’s what judges at the International Court of Justice will weigh during three weeks of hearings starting Monday.
The Gambia brought the case accusing Myanmar of breaching the 1948 Genocide Convention during a crackdown in 2017.
Legal experts are watching closely as it could give clues for how the court will handle similar accusations against Israel over its military campaign in Gaza, a case brought to the ICJ by South Africa.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fled violence by the Myanmar army and Buddhist militias, escaping to neighboring Bangladesh and bringing harrowing accounts of mass rape, arson and murder.
Today, 1.17 million Rohingya live crammed into dilapidated camps spread over 8,000 acres in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.
From there, mother-of-two Janifa Begum told AFP: “I want to see whether the suffering we endured is reflected during the hearing.”
“We want justice and peace,” said the 37-year-old.
’Senseless killings’
The Gambia, a Muslim-majority country in West Africa, brought the case in 2019 to the ICJ, which rules in disputes between states.
Under the Genocide Convention, any country can file a case at the ICJ against any other it believes is in breach of the treaty.
In December 2019, lawyers for the African nation presented evidence of what they said were “senseless killings... acts of barbarity that continue to shock our collective conscience.”
In a landmark moment at the Peace Palace courthouse in The Hague, Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi appeared herself to defend her country.
She dismissed Banjul’s argument as a “misleading and incomplete factual picture” of what she said was an “internal armed conflict.”
The former democracy icon warned that the genocide case at the ICJ risked reigniting the crisis, which she said was a response to attacks by Rohingya militants.
Myanmar has always maintained the crackdown by its armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw, was justified to root out Rohingya insurgents after a series of attacks left a dozen security personnel dead.
‘Physical destruction’
The ICJ initially sided with The Gambia, which had asked judges for “provisional measures” to halt the violence while the case was being considered.
The court in 2020 said Myanmar must take “all measures within its power” to halt any acts prohibited in the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.
These acts included “killing members of the group” and “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”
The United States officially declared that the violence amounted to genocide in 2022, three years after a UN team said Myanmar harbored “genocidal intent” toward the Rohingya.
The hearings, which wrap up on January 30, represent the heart of the case.
The court had already thrown out a 2022 Myanmar challenge to its jurisdiction, so judges believe they have the power to rule on the genocide issue.
A final decision could take months or even years and while the ICJ has no means of enforcing its decisions, a ruling in favor of The Gambia would heap more political pressure on Myanmar.
Suu Kyi will not be revisiting the Peace Palace. She has been detained since a 2021 coup, on charges rights groups say were politically motivated.
The ICJ is not the only court looking into possible genocide against the Rohingya.
The International Criminal Court, also based in The Hague, is investigating military chief Min Aung Hlaing for suspected crimes against humanity.
Another case is being heard in Argentina under the principle of universal jurisdiction, the idea that some crimes are so heinous they can be heard in any court.
