Colombo, Sri Lanka's macroeconomic policy reforms have begun to "bear fruit" and the country is expected to soon reach an agreement with external commercial lenders, the IMF said on Friday, after extending its US$2.9 billion loan to the cash-strapped country. Said ahead of the second review of the US bailout programme. ,
Addressing a press conference on Friday, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Communications Department Director Julie Kozak said Sri Lanka had made "substantial strong progress on the debt restructuring front".
The island nation's program performance is "strong", she said, with most of the quantitative and structural conditionalities for the second review having been met or implemented late, adding that improvements are still underway in some areas.
The second review of the IMF's Extended Fund Facility under Sri Lanka's US$2.9 billion bailout has been scheduled for June 12.
Kozak confirmed that the IMF's Executive Board will meet to discuss the second review and the Article IV consultation.Under Article IV of the IMF's agreement, the global lender typically holds bilateral discussions with members each year, in which a staff team visits the country, collects economic and financial information, and meets with officials to discuss the country's economic development and Discusses policies.
“In Sri Lanka, we see that macroeconomic policy reforms are beginning to bear fruit,” Kozak said. He said "commendable results" include rapid deflation, strong reserve accumulation and early signs of economic growth while maintaining financial system stability.
He said Colombo's next step on debt restructuring is to conclude negotiations with external commercial creditors and implement agreements in principle with official creditors.
Kozak said Sri Lanka's domestic debt operations are largely complete and discussions on debt restructuring are ongoing."The authorities are in extensive discussions with external official lenders regarding an MOU (memorandum of understanding) with the Official Lenders Committee and final agreements with the Export-Import Bank of China," he said. are also in advanced stage.
"There is strong expectation that agreements with external commercial lenders in line with the program parameters will be reached soon. Therefore, overall, our assessment is that there has been fairly strong progress on the debt restructuring front," he said.
In March, the Washington-based IMF said it had reached a staff-level agreement with Sri Lanka for the next phase, raising US$337 million from a nearly US$3 billion bailout approved in 2023 for the cash-strapped country. Access to dollars will become possible.Two tranches of US$330 million were released in March and December 2023.
In April 2022, Sri Lanka declared its first sovereign default since gaining independence from Britain in 1948.
Addressing a press conference on Friday, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Communications Department Director Julie Kozak said Sri Lanka had made "substantial strong progress on the debt restructuring front".
The island nation's program performance is "strong", she said, with most of the quantitative and structural conditionalities for the second review having been met or implemented late, adding that improvements are still underway in some areas.
The second review of the IMF's Extended Fund Facility under Sri Lanka's US$2.9 billion bailout has been scheduled for June 12.
Kozak confirmed that the IMF's Executive Board will meet to discuss the second review and the Article IV consultation.Under Article IV of the IMF's agreement, the global lender typically holds bilateral discussions with members each year, in which a staff team visits the country, collects economic and financial information, and meets with officials to discuss the country's economic development and Discusses policies.
“In Sri Lanka, we see that macroeconomic policy reforms are beginning to bear fruit,” Kozak said. He said "commendable results" include rapid deflation, strong reserve accumulation and early signs of economic growth while maintaining financial system stability.
He said Colombo's next step on debt restructuring is to conclude negotiations with external commercial creditors and implement agreements in principle with official creditors.
Kozak said Sri Lanka's domestic debt operations are largely complete and discussions on debt restructuring are ongoing."The authorities are in extensive discussions with external official lenders regarding an MOU (memorandum of understanding) with the Official Lenders Committee and final agreements with the Export-Import Bank of China," he said. are also in advanced stage.
"There is strong expectation that agreements with external commercial lenders in line with the program parameters will be reached soon. Therefore, overall, our assessment is that there has been fairly strong progress on the debt restructuring front," he said.
In March, the Washington-based IMF said it had reached a staff-level agreement with Sri Lanka for the next phase, raising US$337 million from a nearly US$3 billion bailout approved in 2023 for the cash-strapped country. Access to dollars will become possible.Two tranches of US$330 million were released in March and December 2023.
In April 2022, Sri Lanka declared its first sovereign default since gaining independence from Britain in 1948.
