No Crisis Now If MCC Had Been Approved – Vajira Abeywardena

23-Jul-2025

.

Vajira Abeywardena, Chairman of the United National Party (UNP), said that if the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) agreement had been accepted during Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s tenure, Sri Lanka would not be facing its current economic crisis. 

The deal could have secured $415 billion in grants from the United States, making Sri Lanka the first Asian nation to receive such a tax relief.

He claimed that Ranil understood the implications of international taxation early on and tried to implement the MCC during and after his 2015 government. But local resistance derailed the initiative.

Now, with global tax changes imposed by the U.S. president, Abeywardena argued that Sri Lanka should reflect on its missed opportunity. 

Critics at the time falsely claimed the MCC would require visas to travel to areas like Anuradhapura and Trincomalee.

Abeywardena stated that had MCC been implemented then, Sri Lanka might have become the most robust Asian economy. 

Instead, due to misinformation and political sabotage, the entire nation now suffers.