Colombo, Jan 1 (PTI) Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Monday reiterated his commitment to revive the cash-strapped island nation's dented economy through "tough and unpopular decision making".

Addressing a military gathering here, Wickremesinghe, 74, said that he decided to assume the post as the country's president to revive the economy.

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“I know we have embarked on this difficult task of reviving the economy with corrective measures. I had to think about this difficult task many times. If we fail to take the necessary decisions now we will be going back to economic bankruptcy,” he said.

"If we continue to implement, the country will be assured of a good future. So I took the difficult decision on behalf of the country,” he added.

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On Monday, Sri Lankans woke up to the increase in fuel and cooking gas prices on New Year's Day, which is also the beginning of an election year.

The price hikes were necessitated by the increase in Value-Added Tax by three per cent more to 18 per cent in most cases and in some cases the exemption from a previous VAT-free list.

Wickremesinghe was appointed as the stop-gap president in July of 2022 with the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa who fled the island and resigned in the face of months-long public agitation over his handling of the economy and bringing it to a deep crisis.

“It was not my aim to be popular when I took over the presidency. I wanted to rebuild the country to create a better future for the people,” Wickremesinghe said.

He said that the International Monetary Fund programme that Sri Lanka has engaged in would be able to achieve a growth rate of 5 per cent by 2025-26.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)