President Chandrika Kumaratunga said on Jan 28, 2001, the flotation of the Sri Lankan rupee helped avert a possible economic crisis and added there would be an intervention if the currency fell too steeply. Speaking on a Sinhalese-language television programme, Kumaratunga, who is also finance minister, praised the floating of the rupee earlier this week, saying the timing was right. "If reserves fell a little more, and we delayed the float, then we would have had an economic crisis on our hands