International Monetary Fund (IMF) Communications Department Director, Julie Kozack, has confirmed that the next programme discussion for the IMF’s loan to Sri Lanka is set for mid-October, after the island’s presidential elections next Saturday.
The programme discussion will take before the release of the next tranche of funding, estimated at about $350 million. The announcement comes as Sri Lanka’s leading opposition candidates, Sajth Premadasa and Anura Kumara Dissanayake have stressed their desires to renegotiate the terms of the agreement.
BNN Bloomberg notes that the Sri Lankan government is yet to finalise debt restructuring agreements with some of its key creditors. “Investors have in recent weeks started to cut their exposure to the nation’s dollar bonds amid concerns over further delays in the debt overhaul”, they add.
Speaking on the election Kozack told the media;
“Regarding some of the specific questions about the Presidential Elections, this is really for the people of Sri Lanka to decide, right. Achieving the program’s objectives is a key priority to give Sri Lanka a chance to emerge from one of its worst crises in history. As I have already noted, a lot of progress has been made, but the country is not out of the woods yet, and it is important to safeguard those hard won gains,” she added.
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