Sri Lanka’s Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) urged all stakeholders to work together to resolve the ongoing power and fuel issues that have caused many small apparel units to shutdown while escalating production cost for others. The immediate appointment of financial and legal advisors to commence discussions with Sri Lanka’s creditors will pause debt servicing obligations, relieving the pressure on the system, JAAF said.
It advised Sri Lanka to urgently engage with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to bridge finances for essential imports, particularly for fuel, LPG and medicines. The government should also seek the assistance of the World Bank to reallocate unutilized funds from existing projects towards emergency relief programs, it added.
Extended power cuts have disrupted production activities of small and medium enterprises in Sri Lanka. The mandatory conversion of foreign exchange is complicating raw material imports, as banks are unable to meet their commitments to apparel exporters, JAAF added.
