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Govt. seeks IMF help to counter US tariff blow
The government will seek concessions from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for its 48-month Extended Fund Facility with Sri Lanka to offset the impact of the US tariffs on the economy, a senior Treasury official said.
He said that while the fourth tranche of the funds was due in May or June and the fifth in November, the government will seek an adjustment in revenue targets in the wake of the impact of the US tariffs.
“We have kept to all the revenue targets since the programme began in 2023, and hence we would be requesting some leverage on the set IMF targets,” the official said.
He said the IMF programme had set an additional US$ 3 billion target in export revenue for 2025, but in the face of the US tariffs, it would be difficult to achieve this. An IMF delegation led by Sanjaya Panth, Deputy Director for the Asia and Pacific Department, met President Anura Kumara Dissanayake earlier this week in Colombo to discuss the disbursement of the fourth tranche of the funds. At the meeting, the two sides discussed the impact of the new trade tariffs and their potential implications for Sri Lanka.
“We will be continuing discussions with the IMF in this regard. A delegation from Sri Lanka will be in Washington within a month and a half, where we hope to make a formal request for an adjustment of the revenue targets,” the official said.
The third review of the EFF for Sri Lanka was held by the IMF Executive Board in February, following which Sri Lanka was provided with immediate access to US$334 million to support its economic policies and reforms. The IMF financial support disbursed so far to Sri Lanka stands at around US $1.34 billion.
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