June 1, 2023
For Immediate Release
Markham, Canada – Tamil Rights Group attended a virtual off-record meeting with the Executive Directors representing Asia and Pacific countries at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on May 31st, 2023. This was a roundtable meeting focused on IMF’s work, programs, policies in Asia-Pacific countries.
We had an opportunity to address specific concerns regarding the disbursement of funds in the North and East of Sri Lanka and ensuring that local civil society and elected representatives in the North and East have more autonomy to determine how funds are spent. We raised concerns that human rights violations and unprecedented military spending in the North and East is still a serious issue post war.
We emphasized that the IMF has a greater role to play to ensure that funds are not spent to further bolster the oppressive military in the region. It was agreed upon that a subsequent meeting with the IMF was required to address Sri Lanka specific issues.
TRG along with other stakeholders whose work focuses in this specific region met with:
Dr. Chandranath Amarasekara
Alternate Executive Director
Ms. Rosemary Lim
Representing: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, Vietnam
Mr. Robert Nicholl
Representing: Australia, Kiribati, Korea, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu
Mr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian
Representing: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, India
Mr. Zhengxin Zhang
Representing: China
Mr. Jun Mizuguchi
Representing: Japan
The IMF’s economic outlook for Asia-Pacific was published on April 2023: Regional Economic Outlook for Asia and Pacific May 2023 (imf.org).
Country specific information and latest data on Asia-Pacific countries can be accessed through this link: IMF Country Information.
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