Sri Lankan Northern Province Governor Jeevan Thyagaraja has invited overseas investors to set up new businesses in the province.
His comment has come after Sri Lanka is not able to borrow money from the financial market after the country’s credit ratings are downgraded to junk.
Foreign investors are not willing to invest on a country that is poorly governed with help of military generals and Buddhist monks. Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared emergency regulations and a proclamation on August 30 declaring so many services as essential services while appointing a high-ranking army officer as the Commissioner General of Essential Services.
Sri Lanka’s only option to avert an economic collapse is going to a debt restructuring programme under the IMF, but government reluctant to do so because they do not like to improve human rights of the minority people.
The foreign reserves went down to less than US$ 2.5 billion in September and government needs to pay US$ 4 billion foreign loan and interest payments due next year.
The government banned fertilizer imports due to foreign exchange crisis and the food crisis which is imminent due to the ban would demand more dollars to import food.
This week the many Organizations held protests demanding an immediate reduction of prices of essential goods and relief to the people. Many trade organisations also held protests demanding salary increments.
Due to these crises the Sri Lankan government is now looking for Tamil diaspora’s money, but Sri Lankan military and Buddhist monks have more power than Tamil politicians and government servants in the North and East.
There is no minimum power to the provincial government to manage the investment and developments, it means military and Buddhist monks could take investment money, lands, and other items forcefully with Sri Lankan government help.
A diaspora investor said that he lost Rs. 500 million after he invested in a land in Nallur area, Jaffna District, he did not want to disclose his name as security threat he received from military.
