Mangala set to leave for US to get IMF deal back on track

Finance and Mass Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera will leave for Washington tomorrow to get the International Monetary Fund (IMF) External Fund Facility (EFF) back on track.  

He will be meeting IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, Deputy Managing Director Mitsuhiro Furusawa, Asia Pacific Department Director Chanyong Rhee, Team Leader Manuela Goretti and the other members of the IMF Sri Lanka Team. 

Samaraweera is expected to signal the government’s intention to continue with the IMF reform programme. 

“A key objective will be to negotiate the trajectory of continued fiscal consolidation while accommodating policies to support growth and strengthen the social safety net,” a Finance and Mass Media Ministry statement said.

Samaraweera’s delegation to the IMF will include Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Treasury Secretary Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunge and other key Central Bank and Treasury officials.

The IMF has disbursed over US $ 1 billion out of a US $ 1.5 billion three-year EFF loan it agreed with Sri Lanka in 2016. 

The political crisis that triggered on October 26, 2018 prompted the IMF to delay the disbursement of the sixth loan tranche of US $ 250 million. 
The total loan was expected to have been disbursed with a seventh tranche by mid-2019.

Dr. Coomaraswamy recently told reporters that the government may look to extend the existing loan programme by another year with additional funding.