IMF Board approval will allow SL to access financing up to US $ 7bn: President

President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Board approval would allow Sri Lanka to access foreign financing up to US $ 7 billion from the IMF, international financial institutions and other multilateral organisations. 

The IMF Executive Board yesterday approved Sri Lanka’s staff agreement exactly after 200 days it was signed. This would release the first tranche of the US $ 2.9 billion, four-year bailout package under the Extended Fund Facility. 

The considerable gap between the date of the staff-level agreement and IMF Board approval was due to the delays in Sri Lanka securing financing assurances from its bilateral creditors. China, which is Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral lender, was the last to provide its financing assurance. Since the IMF Board approval is secured, Sri Lanka is expected to begin its negotiations with the country’s private creditors shortly.  “We will continue to engage with all our creditors and I encourage both our bilateral and commercial creditors to strengthen and foster coordination in the context of our forthcoming engagement,” Wickremesinghe said yesterday.  “The IMF programme will also be imperative to improving Sri Lanka’s standing and access to capital markets and it will demonstrate that Sri Lanka is once again a country attractive to talent, investors and tourists,” he added.