The island nation has struggled with unprecedented economic turmoil since gaining independence from Britain in 1948.
The island nation has struggled with unprecedented economic turmoil since gaining independence from Britain in 1948.
The International Monetary Fund said Wednesday, May 11, 2022, that it would continue technical-level talks with indebted Sri Lanka to prepare for political discussions once a new government is formed in the island nation.
Sri Lanka has struggled with unprecedented economic turmoil since gaining independence from Britain in 1948. Sri Lanka is currently facing its worst economic crisis and political instability since independence for a variety of short and long-term reasons.
The IMF said it remains committed to assisting Sri Lanka in line with its policies, the Colombo Gazette reported.
Technical level talks with Sri Lanka have started. They will continue to prepare for political discussions once a new government is formed, the IMF was quoted as saying in the report.
“On our May 9-23 virtual mission, technical level discussions have just started and are continuing as planned to be fully prepared for policy discussions once a new government is formed,” the IMF said in a statement .
The IMF also said it was closely following developments in Sri Lanka and was concerned about rising social tensions and violence.
In April, the two sides met for their first round of talks at IMF headquarters in Washington.
Sri Lanka is hoping for a Rapid Finance Instrument (RFI) facility as well as a larger Extended Fund Facility (EFF) from the International Financial Organization to help it deal with its foreign exchange shortage that has sparked an economic crisis.
At the last meeting, the IMF pledged to help the country with an amount of 300 to 600 million US dollars.
According to the IMF, the island state will receive the said amount from the World Bank in the next four months.
India has pledged more than USD 3 billion in loans, credit lines and credit swaps to indebted Sri Lanka since January this year.
India’s help
On April 12, Sri Lanka suspended its debt service for the first time in its history.
Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned as Sri Lankan Prime Minister on Monday amid unprecedented economic turmoil, hours after his supporters attacked anti-government protesters and called on the authorities to impose a nationwide curfew and deploy army troops in the capital.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday will hold talks with dissidents from the ruling party and main opposition party SJB to end the political impasse following Prime Minister Mahinda’s resignation.
After nearly two days of political deadlock, interest groups are locked in lengthy talks to try to nominate a successor to Mahinda, who has dominated the country’s political scene for decades.
