State Fin. Min. denies reports stating delay in gaining IMF board approval

There would be no delay in Sri Lanka firming up the loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Finance Ministry said yesterday, calling the reports published in this regard factually incorrect.

Finance State Minister Sheshan Semasinghe took to Twitter yesterday to deny the likelihood of Sri Lanka witnessing any delays in obtaining the much-needed assistance from the IMF.

“Recent international coverage stated that beyond December the next slot for an IMF board meeting will be at the end of March. This is not factually correct and the IMF board meetings happen regularly,” tweeted Semasinghe.
The government is committed to engaging with all of Sri Lanka’s official creditors, he added. “We are doing so in an equitable, comparable and transparent way. The discussions around the IMF programmes are always complex but we are grateful for the constructive engagement from all our official creditors, including China, India and Japan,” said Semasinghe.

However, the statement made by Semasinghe contradicts the update shared by President Ranil Wickremesinghe earlier this week, in his capacity as the Finance Minister.

Wickremesinghe stated this week that the island nation is unlikely to firm up the IMF deal by December, as anticipated. He attributed the possible delays in securing the fund by this year to the ongoing debt restructuring talks with China and India. He pointed out that Sri Lanka is yet to obtain creditor assurances from the bilateral lenders, which is mandatory for the IMF board to formally endorse the bailout programme.

“I don’t know whether we can do it for the simple reason that in China, the focus has started now after the party conference. However, we must aim to have it by January,” said Wickremesinghe, commenting on the ongoing efforts with the IMF. He noted that Sri Lanka would gain a “big advantage” if it successfully seals the agreement by December, which means coming to an agreement by mid-November and going up to the IMF board in mid-December.