IMF Team Reviews Sri Lanka's Economic Reform Program

By By Rediff Money Desk, Colombo
Nov 17, 2024 21:27
The IMF team has arrived in Sri Lanka to conduct the third review of the USD 3 billion bailout package, assessing the country's economic reform progress and debt restructuring efforts.
Photograph: Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters
Colombo, Nov 17 (PTI) The International Monetary Fund team on Sunday arrived in Sri Lanka to carry out the third review of nearly USD 3 billion bailout facility, Finance Ministry officials said.

The third review should lead to the fourth tranche of the 4-year facility. It would be around 330 million dollars as was the case in the previous three tranches, Finance Ministry officials said.

Sri Lanka's economic reform programme is supported by the IMF's Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

This review was put on hold until the conclusion of the presidential election that were held in September. There was further delay due to the new National People's Power (NPP) government calling for a snap parliamentary election that took place this week.

This will be the first NPP interaction with IMF officials since they won the record-breaking landslide victory on Wednesday taking absolute control of the 225-member assembly.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake despite pre-presidential election rhetoric on anti-IMF facilities where they said its conditions need to be watered down has been muted in criticism since taking over from his predecessor Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Dissanayake told the last election rally that after the third review is completed he was hopeful of receiving the fourth tranche by February.

This review would assess if Sri Lanka has been meeting programme targets such as state revenue and building reserves.

The debt restructuring agreements reached in the last week of the Wickremesinghe presidency is yet to be officially sealed. Debt restructuring agreement with both bilateral and sovereign bondholders was made compulsory to maintain debt sustainability by the IMF.

Sri Lanka tapped the IMF for a facility at the height of the economic crisis under the presidency of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the president who was made to flee the country by months-long public protests.

Mid April of 2022 Sri Lanka announced its first-ever debt default.

The negotiations with the IMF began thereafter and the Wickremesinghe's government clinched the bailout, a year later in March 2023.

Until then Sri Lanka was banking on a USD 4 billion Indian credit line which paid for fuel and essentials.
Source: PTI
Read More On:
imfsri lankaeconomic reformbailoutdebt restructuringextended fund facilityeffpresidential electionnational people's powernpp
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