Quick Take
The summary is AI-generated, and the newsroom was reviewed.
The IMF has agreed to a review of the loan program with Sri Lanka.
This review will make roughly $344 million available for reform.
Sri Lanka defaulted on its $46 billion external obligations in April 2022.
Washington:
The International Monetary Fund announced on Friday that it had reached an agreement to review its loan programme with Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka defaulted on its $46 billion foreign debt in April 2022 after running out of foreign exchange to fund imports such as food, fuels and medicines.
The last government has set out on a reform process that includes reaching a four-year relief loan of around $3 billion from the IMF, cutting subsidies and raising taxes to stabilize the economy.
That painful reform programme continues under President Anura Kumala Disnayake’s new left-wing regime.
“Sri Lanka’s ambitious reform agenda continues to deliver praiseworthy results,” Evan Papagergiow, chief of the IMF Sri Lanka Mission, said in a statement following discussion in Washington, confirming the fourth review of the program.
“The rebound in growth after the 5% crisis in 2024 is amazing,” he continues, celebrating the country’s “substantial” fiscal reforms, earnings improved, official reserves reached $6.5 billion, and the country’s debt restructuring process was “almost complete.”
Once approved by the IMF Executive Committee, the contract announced on Friday would earn around $344 million in much-needed funds to support the Sri Lankan economy.
The total payments will be around $1.7 billion under the current program, according to the IMF.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from the syndicate feed.)
