Crucial Sri Lankan Central Bank announcement today

Sri Lanka’s monthly monetary policy review would be, unusually, announced at a media conference by Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran on Tuesday evening.
The review is normally issued in a media announcement that is sent to newspapers, radio and television, at the end of a meeting by the bank’s monetary board. The review sets the tone for interest rates, which have been unchanged, for a couple of months and likely to go up tomorrow.
The review announcement was earlier scheduled for 6 pm on Tuesday but has been advanced to 5 pm tomorrow with the Governor personally making a statement in the presence of journalists, the CB said in a statement.
Tomorrow's announcement is in a backdrop of a crisis emerging in the balance of payments, pressure on the Sri Lanka Rupee and inadequate revenue to fund state spending. On Friday night, the Ministry of Finance announced drastic measures ordering exporters to bring back their proceeds by May 1 (in the case of exports done before April 1) and in 90 days for exports executed after April 1. The new rules cancel a 1993 regulation which freed exporters from bringing their money back altogether. – ENDS -