Delivering his inaugural policy statement to Parliament, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake dealt mostly with the economy and, in particular, the IMF agreement. The problem he faces is that the former government agreed to terms with the IMF that did not consider the impact on the people, but gave priority to meeting fiscal targets. The President acknowledged that the government had no alternative but to continue with it as the country had gone too far down the road to change direction. He said, “The negotiations had already been ongoing for more than two years. If we were to restart discussions on the restructuring programme for an extended period it will be impossible for us to move the economy forward…”