“The most serious challenge is how to restore this economy,” said Dr. Athulasiri Samarakoon, a political scientist at the Open University of Sri Lanka, told the BBC Sinhala Service.
During his term, Wickremesinghe had secured a $2.9bn lifeline from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is crucial to opening additional funding channels, but comes with strict economic and governance policy reforms.
Sri Lanka is restructuring the terms of its debt payments with foreign and domestic lenders, as mandated by the IMF. The main focus has been the country’s $36bn in foreign debt, of which $7bn is owed to China, its largest bilateral creditor.
Dissanayake has promised to develop the manufacturing, agriculture and IT sectors. He has also committed to revising tax rates and widening the tax base.
Premadasa has also pushed for IT as well as the establishment of 25 new industrial zones. He said tourism should be supported so that it becomes the country’s top foreign currency earner.
Wickremesinghe during the campaign said he would double tourist arrivals and establish a national wealth fund as well as new economic zones to increase growth.
