Courtesy News18 Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral creditor China, is likely going to help the cash-strapped country in effectively addressing the debt challenges as it has to finalise the external and internal debt for restructuring of $41 billion by September before the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) first review, reported PTI. The IMF is set to conduct […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror It has been five months since Sri Lanka entered the board-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on its 17th programme. Month-to-month progress has been tracked in the public domain by the IMF Tracker (https://manthri.lk/en/imf_tracker ), a platform maintained by Verité Research.The IMF Tracker identifies programme commitments that have been […]

Courtesy Adaderana The central bank (CBSL) governor says Sri Lanka will have to go through another Domestic Debt Optimization (DDO) strategy if the targets of the current plan are not achieved. Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe also noted that the DDO strategy announced by the government is strong enough to restore the country’s debt sustainability. He made […]

Courtesy Hiru News Sri Lanka’s forthcoming review of the USD 3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout package “should go through” given the falling inflation, appreciation of the rupee and build-up of foreign reserves says Prof. Krishnamurthy Subramanian, representative at the IMF Executive Board for Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and Bhutan. Sri Lanka stands a […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka stands a strong chance of passing the first review of its $3 billion bailout given falling interest rates and a build-up of foreign reserves, according to the nation’s representative on the International Monetary Fund executive board. The South Asian country’s efforts to achieve debt sustainability in line with IMF stipulations are […]

Courtesy Adaderana U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Sunday she was eager” to work with China on areas of mutual interest, including debt restructurings for poorer countries, and that multilateral development banks needed reforms before capital increases could be considered. At a press conference before a meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers and […]

By Shyam Nuwan Ganewatta Courtesy The Island The IMF in 2020 told nations around the world that they should maintain a budget deficit to tackle the effects of COVID-19, however, two years later, the IMF insists that this would lead to chaos, Dr. Howard Nicholas, senior lecturer at Erasmus University – Rotterdam, and International Institute […]

Courtesy Adaderana The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it has not discussed any plans for a digital services tax with the Sri Lankan authorities in the current program. In a statement, a spokesperson for the global lender further clarified that it has not provided any recommendation on whether or not Sri Lanka should sign on […]

By Sanath Nanayakkare Courtesy The Island Banks, which pay taxes over 50%, least affected If the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and other pension funds did not wish to participate in the proposed domestic debt restructuring process, there will be an application of higher annual income tax of 30%, Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe said […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka is showing a “strong commitment” to implementing economic reforms but must continue this momentum amid a challenging economic environment, International Monetary Fund Deputy Managing Director Kenji Okamura said on Thursday. In a statement at the conclusion of his visit to Columbo, Okamura said continued open dialogue with Sri Lanka’s […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror India has done more for Sri Lanka than the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Union Minister for External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar stressed on Saturday. The Modi government, he underlined, is working on developing an extended neighbourhood” that involves islands in the Indian Ocean, Gulf countries and nations in South-East Asia. What […]

Courtesy Adaderana President Ranil Wickremesinghe today (May 25) expressed his appreciation for the support extended by Japan to Sri Lanka for the economic recovery process. He conveyed this during the bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo. We have made remarkable headway as far as the debt restructuring talks are concerned,” Reuters […]

Courtesy Kuwait Times COLOMBO: The International Monetary Fund asked Sri Lanka Tuesday to speed its debt restructuring and warned any delays could undermine efforts to overcome the country’s worst economic crisis. Sri Lanka expected a quick deal with creditors shortly after defaulting on its $46 billion foreign debt in April last year, but restructuring talks began […]

Courtesy Adaderana Upon completion of their mission to Sri Lanka, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) team says that keeping up the economic reform momentum and ensuring timely implementation of the IMF-supported programme’s commitments are key for Sri Lanka to emerge from the economic crisis. The mission discussed recent economic developments and the implementation of the […]

BY EDWARD THEOPHILUS People of Sri Lanka could express views on the credit programs provided to the country if anyone investigates the condition of credit facilities, it is possible to understand the condition of credit facilities.  Although the International Monetary Fund provides credit facilities to member countries, it is not a social service organisation, as […]

Courtesy Adaderana Director of the Asia and Pacific Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Krishna Srinivasan says that Sri Lanka’s economy is expected to contract by 3 percent in 2023, before registering a modest growth of 1.5 percent in 2024. Mr. Srinivasan made this remark during a special press briefing in Colombo on Monday […]

Courtesy Hiru News An International Monetary Fund team will Sri Lanka from May 11 to 23, with its Asia Pacific Department Chief Krishna Srinivasan also joining from May 12 to 15. The IMF said the visit will be part of regular consultations ahead of the first review mission later this year. The IMF’s first review […]

Courtesy Adaderana China attended as an observer the first meeting of Sri Lanka’s creditor nations on Tuesday, offering policymakers some hope Beijing will become more engaged in talks to resolve debt woes of low- and middle-income countries across the world. The meeting, within a new framework launched in Washington D.C. in April that creditors hope […]

Courtesy Adaderana Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry has spoken on Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring process, stating that encouraging signs have been seen thus far, although Sri Lanka is not ‘completely out of the woods’. In an interview with Channel News Asia (CNA), the Minister said there is a glimmer of hope for us, but […]

Courtesy Adaderana The Resolution for the Implementation of the Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Sri Lanka was passed in the parliament today (April 28) with majority votes. Members of Parliament voted for the resolution on the implementation of the IMF-supported program following a three-day debate from […]

Courtesy APNews.com COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s president urged lawmakers Wednesday to approve a four-year International Monetary Fund program to reduce the country’s debt by $17 billion through restructuring. Parliament began a three-day debate Wednesday on President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s proposal to accept the IMF program. It will be followed by a vote. If […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka is scheduled to hold debt restructuring talks with the Paris Club, India and China before the discussion with private creditors, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said. Speaking in Parliament this morning (26 April), the Head of State announced that debt restructuring talks will be held with both the Paris Club and India in […]

Courtesy Adaderana The last time emerging markets faced a major debt crisis, in the 1990s, influential creditors, named after traditional centres of diplomacy and finance, could quickly gather in private to agree a solution. These days, bringing together a more diverse group of lenders has proved a more cumbersome exercise. The Paris Club’s members are […]

Courtesy Hiru News Foreign media cited sources familiar with the Paris Club, to say that the group has informed the International Monetary Fund of their willingness to support Sri Lanka’s debt re-structuring. As it stands, only India has confirmed its participation in the restructuring process, with the IMF accepting a letter in this regard. Meanwhile, […]

Courtesy Adaderana China has reiterated the calls on commercial and multilateral creditors to jointly participate in Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring under the principle of fair burden-sharing. According to Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin, the Asian economic giant has been in close communication with Sri Lanka and supported Chinese financial institutions in actively discussing debt […]

Courtesy Adaderana A committee of Sri Lanka’s international private creditors sent its first debt rework proposal to the country’s authorities regarding over $12 billion in bonds outstanding, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the matter. It is the first bondholder proposal after the island nation of 22 million people defaulted on its debt […]

By Aldgra Fredly Courtesy Epoch Times It remains uncertain whether China, Sri Lanka’s biggest bilateral creditor, will join the initiative launched by Japan. Japan, India, and France on April 13 unveiled a plan to initiate a negotiation process with Sri Lanka’s creditors to coordinate the restructuring of Sri Lanka’s debt as the country seeks to resolve […]

Courtesy Financial Express She emphasised that a collaboration among creditors is important to ensure transparency and equality in treatment of all creditors in the debt restructuring discussions. The high-level meeting took place on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)- World Bank (WB) Spring Meetings here on Thursday. (Photo source: Twitter/@FinMinIndia) Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman attended […]

Courtesy The Hindu Finance Ministers of the three creditor countries will hold a press briefing on the margins of the annual Spring meetings of the World Bank and the IMF in Washington. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with Gita Gopinath, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, during a meeting on the sidelines of […]

Courtesy Adaderana Japan, India and France are scheduled to hold a press briefing on Thursday (13 April) to announce the launch of the debt restructuring negotiation process on Sri Lanka. International Monetary Fund (IMF) communicated this quoting the Japanese Finance Ministry. Accordingly, the finance ministers of the three creditor countries – Shunichi Suzuki, Bruno Le […]