Basil: Sri Lanka will not dance to international tunes

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 July 2010, 12:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa has said that his government will not be bullied by either the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or any other foreign lending agencies on how to steer the economy of the island. He told parliament on Thursday that the Sri Lankan government was not going to dance to the tunes of any international lending institutions.

“Even though we work with such institutions it does not mean we work according to their conditions or orders. We are a democratic country with our own identity and we are not willing to betray our nation to anyone or any institution,” Mr. Rajapaksa said.

He also told the House that the recent loan obtained by the IMF came with absolutely ‘no conditions.’