Cardinal raps about ‘new heroes’ seeking Easter votes – The Island

Written by INDIKA SAKALASOORIYA IN WASHINGTON

ECONOMYNEXT –The International Monetary Fund is in talks with Sri Lanka’s new administration about its priorities and is working on the next review to continue its Enhanced Funds Facility program on the island.

A Sri Lankan delegation led by the Governor of the Central Bank, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance and Adviser to the President on economic matters, Duminda Hulangamuwa, is currently engaged in these talks.

“We have elements within the program that address some of the priorities of the new government, including social protection and so on,” Krishna Srinivasan, director of the IMF’s Asia Pacific Department, said in Washington.

“But details of the program are ongoing and it will take place in Washington this week.

“We are encouraged by what we have heard so far and hope that we can move quickly towards the third review, which should begin soon.”

The third review of the 48-month rescue package, originally scheduled for September based on June economic data, was postponed due to Sri Lanka’s presidential election, in which Anura Dissanayake was elected as the country’s new president.

Srinivasan, who led a high-level IMF delegation to Colombo after the election of the new president, said there was a consensus with Sri Lankan officials to preserve and build on the hard-earned gains under the current program.

Sri Lanka, with the help of the IMF, reached an agreement with the country’s official creditors and an agreement in principle with its private creditors.

The country’s next step will be to reach a formal agreement with all creditors.

“This is a big step forward,” Srinivasan said. “Of course, this is not the end. There is still a lot of work to be done on the continuity of reforms. There is a long way to go before we can get on the path to a strong and sustainable recovery.”

Sri Lanka has achieved positive growth in the last four quarters, making significant progress from the depths of the crisis it faced in 2022. But the recovery has been uneven, particularly affecting the poor and vulnerable groups who continue to bear the brunt of economic hardship.