Crisis-hit Sri Lanka's leader proposes 25-year plan

Sri Lanka's new president, Ranil Wickremesinghe said that his government is preparing a national policy roadmap for the next 25 years that aims to cut public debt and turn the country into a competitive export economy as it seeks a way out of its worst economic disaster.

Sri Lanka needs long-term solutions and a strong foundation to stop a recurrence of economic crises. The President said his government had initiated negotiations with the International Monetary Fund on a four-year rescue plan and had commenced the finalisation of a debt restructuring plan. Sri Lanka’s government aim is to create a surplus in the primary budget by the year 2025 and to bring down public debt, currently at 140% of GDP, to less than 100% by 2032.