Colombo (LNW): The strengthening of the Sri Lanka Rupee recently evident against the US Dollar was due to Sri Lanka’s lacking of active engagement with the international market, Leader of the National People’s Power (NPP) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) MP Anura Kumara Dissanayke said, speaking to a rally organised by the NPP in Balapitiya electorate recently. The NPP/JVP Leader explained that Sri Lanka needs dollars to repay loans, import goods and grow the country’s foreign reserves, but at present with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s (CBSL) announcement of not repaying debts, the ban on several imported goods slashing the import cost and the CBSL not purchasing dollars to maintain the reserves, neither of the aforementioned key purposes meets its outcome. Sri Lanka was not engaging with the international market, and the outcome of which is the piling of excess dollars in the Sri Lankans banks, hence the indication that the US Dollar is continuously dropping against the Sri Lankan Rupee, Dissanayake emphasised. In the backdrop, despite the Sri Lanka Rupee being virtually strengthened, the island’s economy will further shrink, and the public’s suffering will only increase in the future, the MP warned. The NPP Leader urged the public not to be deceived by the ‘fabricated economy’ offered by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who believes it to be the only solution gain the public’s trust.