IMF Technical Committee due in Sri Lanka to Assess work for additional funding

Gerry Rice - Director IMF Communications Department

By Lanciburuwa

It has been reported that a Technical Committee is due in Sri Lanka from IMF to assess the budgetary pressures especially  to check on the rationale behind the development projects worth US$250 billion launched by the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime just before the 2015 presidential elections according to Minister Sarath Amunugama. Below given is statement given by IMF on the request by Sri Lanka government. 

Press Briefing by Gerry Rice, Director, IMF Communications Department

Link :-http://www.imf.org/external/np/tr/2016/tr021116.htm

Extract Pertaining to Sri Lanka

I will -- I am going to take a couple of questions online and I’ll come back in the room. On Sri Lanka, he’s asking can we please comment and provide context for the reported request from the government for a new IMF program to which I can say that indeed, the authorities have expressed interested in a Fund supported program as one option to address the balance of payments, pressures that they face. We are considering the options and that will depend on our assessment of macroeconomic vulnerabilities, the nature and size of balance of payments needs, and government policies to address those vulnerabilities.

What else can I say? A technical mission to review recent developments and options for reducing the size of Sri Lanka’s 2016 budget deficit concluded February 5^th. We published the statement that day and the issues I’ve just described, they will be worked out in a future negotiating mission that could take place in late March or early April, that’s on Sri Lanka.