• Sri Lanka will remain listed as a middle-income country

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have emphasised that access to new concessionary funding remains linked to deep reforms, an IMF programme, and progress with a comprehensive debt treatment process by the authorities of Sri Lanka, a statement from the State Ministry of Finance said.    State Minister Shehan Semasinghe met with the World Bank (WB) Vice President for the South Asia Region Martin Raiser, and a World Bank delegation during the World Bank Annual Meetings 2022, to discuss options available to recover Sri Lanka’s economy.

According to the statement, the discussions were focused on the current creditworthiness of Sri Lanka. The country is no longer entitled to source funding through the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

 “It has to work with the International Development Association (IDA) rating, which will grant Sri Lanka to obtain concessional loans. This process, which will entail a “reverse graduation” to IDA, will move Sri Lanka from an IBRD-only country to an IDA country. However, 

Sri Lanka will remain listed as a middle-income country. 

The IMF/WB also emphasised that access to this potential new concessional funding remains linked to deep reforms, an IMF programme, and progress with a comprehensive debt treatment process by the authorities of Sri Lanka. The VP and the WB Delegation said that sustained improvements in economic and social conditions by the Sri Lankan government could pave the way for Sri Lanka to graduate from IDA in the future,” the statement said.  

• The discussions were focused on the current creditworthiness of Sri Lanka. The country is no longer entitled to source funding through the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)