IMF Delegation to Arrive in Colombo for Talks on Third Tranche of Ongoing Programme and Future Direction

A delegation from the International Monetary Fund is set to arrive in Colombo today to hold discussions regarding the third tranche of the ongoing IMF programme and its future direction. The delegation, led by Director of the IMF’s Asia-Pacific Region, Krishna Srinivasan, is expected to meet Minister of Foreign Affairs Vijitha Herath during their 3 day visit. The discussions will focus on the country’s progress under the current programme and explore next steps in Sri Lanka’s economic recovery plan. The visit has been termed as a courtesy call by Minister Herath. The Minister added that Sri Lanka will have detailed talks with the IMF on the framework of the bailout programme on the sidelines of the lender’s annual meetings in Washington later this month. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake during the election campaign had repeatedly mentioned renegotiating the IMF deal to ease difficulties of the poor due to the global lender’s deal signed under the previous government. In March last year, IMF had approved a bridge financing package worth 2.9 billion dollars which is available to Sri Lanka over a 48 month period. The third tranche of about 336 million dollars was released to Sri Lanka upon successful completion of the review by IMF in June this year.