IMF second tranche likely next month

Sri Lanka is expecting the second International Monetary Fund (IMF) tranche immediately after the donor agency board meeting on December 6, Ministry of Finance sources said.

The IMF last October announced that it has finalised an agreement with Sri Lanka to deploy the second tranche of US $ 3 billion loan which comes to $ 330 million,to aid the recovery of the country.

The officials said that Sri Lanka has managed to meet a few preconditions like raising value added tax to increase revenue collections which the donor agency was concerned about. They also said fast tracking state owned enterprise restructuring was also welcomed by the IMF.

An official told the Business Times That China has indicated some adjustment in external debt restructuring to the Treasury, and these terms have been conveyed to the Paris Club. “There is a certain understanding reached with China pertaining to external debt restructuring.”

The Treasury on October 11 confirmed that it had completed its debt restructuring negotiations worth dollars 4.2 billion with China's Export Import Bank. However, the terms of this agreement are not public as yet. (DEC)