President Anura Kumara Dissanayake says the government expects it will finalize a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by this Friday (23 Nov).
The President made the announcement while delivering the Government’s policy statement during the inaugural session of the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka underway today.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake revealed that he expects the staff-level agreement to be signed by the 23rd of November 2024 adding that the journey going forward with the IMF is a decision move.
The President said that through this Sri Lanka can expect to receive positive news on the third tranche of the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme this week.
President Dissanayake further said that he is also hopeful that debt restructuring talks will be completed by December this year.
He said his party was elected to power at a time when discussions on debt restructuring with bilateral creditors and International Sovereign Bondholders were at the final stages.
“The reality in front of us now is that we have no time to check whether these agreements are beneficial or harmful to us, as these are the results of nearly 2 years of discussions. We cannot go forward if we continue through another 2 years to study and renegotiate the previous agreement,” he said.
President Dissanayake said as such, the government has decided to engage in discussions with bilateral creditors and enter into separate agreements with each nation.
With International Sovereign Bondholders, as initial agreements have been drawn as of now, the President said the government expects to finalize restructuring by the end of December.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said that through these means the government will be able to conduct successful negotiations with the IMF to strengthen Sri Lanka’s economy.
The President revealed that these measures were possible following the recent discussions held with the Senior Mission Chief Peter Breuer and the IMF delegation which visited Sri Lanka soon after the Parliamentary election.
President Dissanayake said that the government held lengthy discussions with the IMF delegation during this visit. (Newswire)
