By Dilina Kulathunga Courtesy Daily Mirror Colombo, January 5 (Daily Mirror) – While Sri Lanka has managed to push its Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) slightly atop the billion dollar mark in 2025, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) policies have put the country in a bind in having polices, particularly when it comes to taxation in […]

Courtesy Hiru News A group of 120 internationally renowned economists and development experts has issued a joint letter calling for the immediate suspension of Sri Lanka’s debt repayments, citing the devastating impact of recent floods and Cyclone Ditwah. The group argues that the scale of destruction constitutes a force majeure” event, making it impossible for […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Sustained adherence to the reform agenda has underpinned a robust economic recovery, price stability, substantial revenue-based fiscal consolidation, and progress in rebuilding foreign exchange reserves, but the economy remains vulnerable, and GDP has not recovered to its pre-crisis level, according to an IMF official. Kenji Okamura, Deputy Managing Director and Acting […]

Courtesy Hru News The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved an immediate disbursement of approximately USD 206 million under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) to assist Sri Lanka in the wake of the catastrophic Cyclone Ditwah. Speaking shortly after the Executive Board’s decision, IMF Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka, Evan Papageorgiou, emphasised that while […]

Courtesy Hiru News The International Monetary Fund Executive Board has approved an immediate disbursement of approximately US$206 million to Sri Lanka to help the nation navigate the aftermath of the catastrophic Cyclone Ditwah. This emergency support is provided through the Rapid Financing Instrument and is equivalent to 26 percent of the country’s quota. The funding […]

by Melani Manel Perera, Courtesy PIME Aias News Civil society groups and activists are echoing a call from various segments of Sri Lankan society to renegotiate the agreement with the International Monetary Fund in light of the damage caused by climate change. The focus is on the Extended Fund Facility programme whose austerity measures are […]

By Meera Srinivasan Courtesy The Hindu The programme’s crushing austerity measures make recovery harder, contend activists Updated – December 09, 2025 at 07:16 PM As Sri Lanka reels from Cyclone Ditwah’s devastation, calls to revisit the ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, which critics say imposes punishing austerity, are growing louder. At least 638 people […]

Courtesy Hiru News The completion of the Fifth Review of Sri Lanka’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be delayed, as the Board prioritises emergency aid following Cyclone Ditwah. The IMF released the following statement to the media: In light of the Sri Lankan authorities’ request for emergency financing, IMF […]

Courtesy Anadolu Agency Rapid Financing Instrument request under review as IMF expresses support for recovery efforts ANKARA The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday that it is reviewing a request by Sri Lanka for $200 million in emergency financing following the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah. Evan Papageorgiou, IMF mission chief for Sri Lanka, […]

Courtesy Adaderana The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has underscored the importance of sustaining Sri Lanka’s reform momentum and safeguarding macroeconomic stability, following a week-long mission to the country.  Speaking at Ada Derana’s current affairs program ‘@Hydepark’, Evan Papageorgiou, the IMF Mission Chief for Sri Lanka, outlined key developments in the nation’s economic program and future […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka experienced its worst economic crisis in 2022. This crisis stemmed from poor economic management, including excessive fiscal deficits, and the loss of access to international financial markets. As a part of its recovery efforts, the government sought a USD 3 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme from the International […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the Fourth Review of Sri Lanka’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement.

Courtesy Daily Mirror Colombo, June 16 (Daily Mirror) – Sri Lanka aims to make the ongoing Extended Fund Facility of the International Fund Facility (IMF) the final programme undertaken with the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said today. While delivering the keynote address at the international conference ‘Sri Lanka’s Road to Recovery: […]

Kuwait Times COLOMBO: Cash-strapped Sri Lanka on Wednesday announced a 15 percent increase in the electricity price to shore up revenues for the state-run utility, in line with conditions imposed by an IMF bailout. The Public Utilities Commission said it allowed the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to charge the higher rates from Thursday, six months […]

Lanka C Voice

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Colombo, May 3 (Daily Mirror) – The government is facing a dilemma as it must either increase the power tariff or face a delay in receiving the fifth tranche under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) agreement signed with the IMF, United National Party (UNP) National Organiser Sagala Ratnayake said yesterday. He […]

 lanka C news ජාත්‍යන්තර මූල්‍ය අරමුදල මෙරටට ලබා දී ඇති අරමුදල් වැඩසටහනේ ප්‍රගතිය මැන බැලීම සඳහා සිදුකළ සිව්වැනි සමාලෝචනයට විධායක කමිටු අනුමැතිය ලැබී එය සම්පූර්ණවීමට අවම වශයෙන් මාස කීපයක් ගතවනු ඇතැයි එම අරමුදලේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා දූත මණ්ඩල ප්‍රධානී එවන් පැපජෝජියෝ මහතා මාධ්‍ය හමුවකදී ප්‍රකාශ කළේය. කාර්ය මණ්ඩල එකඟතාවකට එළැඹීම මුල් පියවර පමණක් බවත් ඉන් පසුව […]

 KELUM BANDARA  Courtesy The Daily Mirror Despite positive developments and recovery expected this year, Sri Lanka’s economy is still vulnerable, and it is critical to sustain the reform momentum for long-term growth, a top International Monetary Fund (IMF) official said yesterday. Addressing a virtual press conference, Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka Peter Breuer said […]

By Uditha Jayasinghe Courtesy Kelo.com COLOMBO (Reuters) -Sri Lanka should avoid tax exemptions and focus on passing a national budget that is in line with parameters set by the International Monetary Fund to continue with a $2.9 billion program from the international lender, an IMF official said on Tuesday. Sri Lanka mounted a remarkable” recovery from a […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror AFP – Sri Lanka’s fragile economic recovery could be hampered by threatened trade union strikes over reduced benefits for government employees in this year’s budget, the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday. Leftist President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s maiden budget raised public sector salaries but also made deep cuts to longstanding perks in […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced its Executive Board has ​completed the third review under the 48-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) Arrangement, allowing the authorities to draw SDR 254 million (about US$334 million).  This brings the total IMF financial support disbursed to SDR 1.02 billion (about US$1.34 billion). IMF Deputy Managing Director […]

Courtesy Hiru News The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has stated that Sri Lanka’s compliance with IMF conditions in the 2025 budget will be a key factor in approving the next tranche of funding under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF). IMF Communications Director Julie Kozack confirmed that the Executive Board will review the third assessment of […]

By Malavika Kaur Makol Courtesy Bloomberg (Bloomberg) — Moody’s Ratings upgraded Sri Lanka’s credit rating, days after the nation concluded debt restructuring of its dollar bonds, which reduces the risk of default on future notes.  The South Asian nation has been upgraded to Caa1 from Ca on Monday, according to a statement by the rating agency. […]

By Nalliah Thayabharan Germany was hopelessly broke when Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933 . The Treaty of Versailles (le Traité de Versailles) had imposed crushing reparations on the German people, demanding that Germans repay every nation’s costs of the war. These costs totaled three times the value of all the property in Germany. […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka vowed Thursday to complete its long-delayed foreign debt restructure within the month before a 2025 budget adhering to strict revenue targets set by the International Monetary Fund. The island nation defaulted on its $46 billion external debt in April 2022 after running out of foreign exchange to finance even the most […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka has achieved another Staff-Level Agreement for the Third Review of the IMF program. The IMF delegation during its recent visit to Colombo praised the state of the economy and the success of their programme in Sri Lanka. The reality is far from its applause, where real output and incomes […]

IMF Communications Department Washington, DC: Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), issued the following statement about Sri Lanka to Members of the Financial Community today: The Sri Lankan authorities have been implementing an ambitious economic reform program supported by the IMF, which aims to restore debt sustainability and external viability, underpin broad […]

Courtesy CNN COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s new leftist government has agreed to press ahead with a controversial IMF bailout programme that involves tough austerity and economic reforms, the international lender announced on Saturday (Nov 23). The International Monetary Fund said it reached an agreement with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s administration to continue with the four-year loan negotiated […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka’s new government has agreed to press ahead with a IMF bailout programme that involves tough austerity and economic reforms, the international lender announced on Saturday (Nov 23). The International Monetary Fund said it reached an agreement with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s administration to continue with the four-year loan negotiated by his […]

Courtesy Adaderana IMF staff and the Sri Lankan authorities have reached staff-level agreement on economic policies to conclude the third review of Sri Lanka’s economic reform program supported by the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF).  Once the review is approved by IMF Management and completed by the IMF Executive Board, Sri Lanka will have access […]