Foreign
aid donors have been kind to Sri Lanka this year with pledges
amounting to over a billion dollars a year over the next
three or four years, including those expected to be made
at the June donor conference in Tokyo. Central Bank governor
A.S. Jayawardena seen in a pensive mood after he told the
media last week that the recent pledge by the IMF of $567
million under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Fund and
Extended Fund Facility, after years of negotiation, was
like a "character certificate" indicating that
the country's economic policies were sound and would give
confidence to investors. Jeremy Carter, the fund's senior
resident representative here, said high inflationary expectations
still posed a big challenge to the government but that lower
oil prices following an early end to the war against Iraq
is likely to filter down into lower consumer prices. Picture
by M.A. Pushpakumara.
