COLOMBO (News 1st) – It’s not a secret that we are all broke as a country, and we have to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, said Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe addressing a meeting with the Sri Lankan Diaspora.President Ranil Wickremesinghe who visited the United Kingdom to attend the funeral ceremony of Queen Elizabeth II had met with the Sri Lankan Diaspora in Britain on Monday (19) afternoon." We have already started discussions with the IMF and staff level agreement is there.
We have to talk to India, China and Japan and to the private creditors. While we look at our issues of debt, we also have to repay what we have borrowed.
This means we need 25 years from now to 2048. Then we will be 100, by then will be a prosperous society," said the President.Many Sri Lankan businessmen, investors and professionals living in Britain attended the meeting organized by the Sri Lankan High Commission in Britain.President Ranil Wickremesinghe explained the future plans of the new government of Sri Lanka and invited the Sri Lankans living there to join the new investment opportunities created in Sri Lanka.The President also commented on winning future challenges as a Commonwealth country under the leadership of the new King of Britain.The Sri Lankan High Commissioner in the UK Saroja Sirisena was also present at this meeting.The full speech made by President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the meeting with the Diaspora is as follows;“As I am meeting the Commonwealth Secretary General tomorrow (20), we were taking amongst ourselves how we are going to function.
We want the Commonwealth to be strong, to go ahead. The UK has been a friend and ally for a long time. We have been under the rule of UK and we have been an independent.