SL receives $ 1.1 m from IMF SDRs, CDB
View(s):Sri Lanka has received the US$800 million International Monetary Fund’s IMF Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation and another $300 million from China Development Bank (CDB) to improve liquidity and boost foreign reserves, the Finance Ministry announced on Tuesday.
The IMF facility was due on August 27 but it was slightly delayed due to procedural issues, a senior Finance Ministry official said adding that this has provided some breathing space for the country to stabilise the forex market.
A total of $1.1 billion has already flowed into the country and will help to convert foreign receipts and phase out imports, State Minister of Finance Ajith Nivard Cabraal said expressing the belief that the current foreign exchange woes will ease in the coming months.
The new SDR allocation has been disbursed unconditionally by the IMF, to all members that participate in the SDR Department according to their quota shares. Sri Lanka’s quota share is 0.12 percent, he disclosed.