Sri Lanka’s third review will come up soon: IMF

25 October 2024 03:39 pm Views - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} 5 Bookmark

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Colombo, October 25 (Daily Mirror)- Claiming that Sri Lanka has come a long way in terms of undertaking reforms which have led to some hard won gains, the International Monetary Fund (IMF)said they could move fast towards the third review which will come up soon.

IMF Director of the Asia and Pacific Department Krishna Srinivasan told a special briefing that there is consensus that the new government would like to safeguard and build on the hard won gains under the program.

"We had some very, very productive discussions with the new government and the team there. And the discussions are continuing this week during the Annual Meetings. Now, there was broad consensus, I would say unanimous consensus, that Sri Lanka, which was tearing at the abyss in 2022, has come a long way in terms of undertaking reforms which have led to some hard won gains. You'll note that growth has been positive in the last four quarters. Inflation is coming down. So there is consensus that the new government would like to safeguard and build on the hard won gains under the program," he said.

He said , under the program, the IMF have elements which address some of the priorities of the new government, including in terms of social protection and so on.

"But the details on the program are continuing and they'll be happening this week in Washington. And we are encouraged by what we have heard so far and hoping that, we can move fast towards the third review which will come up soon," he added.

Responding to a question on the debt restructuring, he said Sri Lanka has reached agreements with the official creditors and in principle with the private creditors.

"The next step would be to reach a formal agreement with all creditors. And that's a big step forward. And of course that's not the end. There's a lot more work to be done in terms of continuing with the reforms because a long way to go before you're on the path of strong and sustainable recovery," he said.

"Now there was one question on specific tax measures there. I don't want to go to the detail because those are things being worked out in the context of discussions which are ongoing right now. Hopefully, we will move along these negotiations over the next few weeks in a more targeted way," he said.

Comments - 5

wickrama Wijayasiri Friday, 25 October 2024 07:43 PM

Yes, the have nots have paid for the reforms while the rich crooks and thieves, who happen to be the friends and supporters of the politician crooks and thieves have gotten away so far. Only now, these crooks and thieves are being made to pay the taxes which in some cases are decades in arrears, a fair application of the reforms would be done. In addition, the rogues who masterminded the Bond Scam and similar splurges of public money should be exposed and recovery as much as possible be made. It is a good thing that the undue perks given to the politicians are being rescinded to control expenditure.

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Dilakshan Seneviratne Saturday, 26 October 2024 01:55 PM

Absolutely correct. I’m sure the IMF too understands that their support is for the whole country not only for those selfish mongrels at the top who own 80% of the country. They surely must be happy to deal with a government that represents the people instead of an illegitimate President and government that had lost their mandate in 2022.

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Western interference Monday, 28 October 2024 11:40 AM

The IMF, UN and other Western proxy entities show a pleasant face to the public and conspire with the crooks behinds the scenes. Some politicians are predicting a short stay for AKD, only because they are aware entities like IMF, who are in their favour, will manufacture ways to see the failure of AKD government. The SLn public have to be alert and vigilant not to fall for these western manipulations.

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Same old butchers with a set of new faces Saturday, 26 October 2024 08:32 AM

The poor carried the burden of sacrifice to make this possible. Unfortunately, we the poor masses are very gullible and keep the corrupted rogues in comfort by carrying the burden, voting them to power and prosperity again and again. The only difference was the Aragalaya that opened a new chapter in our lives. Now Aragalaya is forgotten, and the same old groups are vying to get back to power seats with a set of new faces! Some of them trying to distract us with fairy tales. Just because Johnston went to CID, another young actor walks into CID to show his face and it is news. Will we ever learn?

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Voter - Elpitiya Saturday, 26 October 2024 05:37 PM

NPP seems not an alternative, but an identical substitution for RW' s financial order. People are not inspired by last month's election of a new president as the new regime has not yet taken any convincing steps to ease COL. Consequently only 63% have turned up to polls in today's LG election.

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