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Sitharaman turned IMF tide for Lanka: Sabry
Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman changed the tone of a crucial meeting with International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials on Sri Lanka’s economic crisis after intervening ahead of talks with the Fund’s leadership, former Finance Minister Ali Sabry has said.
Recalling his experience on the Impactstories_podcast, Sabry said he had been tasked with negotiating with the IMF during his tenure as Finance Minister as Sri Lanka grappled with its worst economic crisis.
He said IMF officials he met in Washington initially took a highly negative view of Sri Lanka’s situation.
“When I went to Washington, I had a meeting with the regional directors and they were very negative about Sri Lanka. They said 16 times this has happened,” Sabry said, adding that he felt the officials were reluctant to listen to Sri Lanka’s position.
Sabry said he was scheduled to meet IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath at 3 pm, but had lunch with Sitharaman beforehand.
“She asked me, Minister, how did the meeting go? I said not that great. I said they were kind of reluctant and had a lot of issues. She said don’t worry, I will meet Kristalina Georgieva before you. I will put a word,” he recalled.
Sabry said the atmosphere changed dramatically when he later met the IMF leadership.
“The tone, the approach, the environment, everything had changed,” he said.
According to Sabry, Georgieva told him that she had just concluded a meeting with Sitharaman, during which “70-80% of the meeting was not about India, but Sri Lanka.”
Sabry said Sitharaman’s intervention became a key foundation for Sri Lanka’s subsequent economic recovery.
Watch: Impactstories podcast clip,
