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Sri Lankan prime minister warns of ‘double trouble’ for economy

Sri Lanka’s prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe warned that the island’s economy faced “double trouble” as US sanctions against Iran look to come into effect later this year.

“We will have to be vigilant in November this year as the US economic sanctions on Iran is going to be effective then” warned Wickremesinghe. “We will have to see what steps we should take then. It is not clear whether we will be able to export tea to USA.”

“Sri Lanka is facing double trouble as a result of the global economic crisis because of its debt services. We will have to pay $ 3000 million this year and $ 4000 million in 2019.”

He went on to claim that his government “inherited this debt”. 

“We will curtail our imports as of now but will have to take more steps later,” he added. ”We have to take steps.”

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