Sri Lanka, March 12 -- Sri Lanka's ex-Central Bank Chief and senior economist this week urged policymakers to maintain a strong focus on structural reforms to sustain the current macroeconomic framework. This, he said, is essential to avoid another bout of instability that would necessitate seeking external financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

With decades of facilitating a persistent pattern of excessive fiscal deficits, Sri Lanka still risks falling into instability due to its strong tendency to adopt populist policies, fuelled by an entrenched entitlement culture, former CBSL Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy said.

Addressing a public lecture hosted by the Central Bank this week, he highlighted how pre-el...