SRI LANKA’S opposition leader said on Thursday that if he wins the country's presidential race, he will renegotiate the International Monetary Fund economic reforms package to ensure rich residents pay more taxes and poor ones see their conditions improve.

Sajith Premadasa, the opposition leader in Parliament said that his party has already started discussions with the IMF to find ways to ease people’s tax burden. 

The reforms were introduced after Sri Lanka defaulted on its foreign debt creating the worst economic crisis in its history.

Mr Premadasa argues that “fundamental changes” are needed to the current agreement between the IMF and Sri Lanka’s government, done in a more “humanistic manner” to ensure that the burden on the people is lessened.

“And if there are burdens that have to be imposed, the super-rich and the rich have to disproportionately take a bigger share of the burden rather than the working men and women of Sri Lanka.”

Sri Lanka is in the middle of reforms and a debt restructuring programme under an IMF agreement whereby taxes have been increased to boost state revenue. 

After the island nation defaulted on its foreign debt in 2022, borrowing was reduced and the printing of new currency notes was stopped by law.

The opposition parties say that many of the wealthy and those who have connections with authorities do not pay their taxes, and the burden is borne by the middle and lower classes through income taxes and value-added tax on goods and services.

The presidential election on September 21 is seen as a referendum on the reforms initiated by President Ranil Wickremesinghe which have largely not affected most ordinary people.

Mr Premadasa ran in the 2019 presidential election and lost to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was forced to flee after two years amid angry protests against the country’s economic meltdown.