The International Monetary Fund’s program has been suspended due to the ongoing political crisis on the island, according to a report in The Morning on Sunday.
IMF official spokesperson Gerry Rice told The Sunday Morning that the programme with Sri Lanka, a three-year extended arrangement of about $ 1.5 billion which was approved in 2016, “is on hold pending further clarity on the political situation”.
His comments come as Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Governor Indrajit Coomaraswamy told reporters of the IMF schedule on the island and admitted that “clearly that has got delayed now”.
Sri Lanka plunged into political crisis last month after the president sacked the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe and appointed the former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, who oversaw the killing of tens of thousands of Tamils in 2009, as premier. The crisis on the island has seen calls for sanctions and tourists numbers plummet.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated earlier this month that it was “monitoring the situation closely”.
Last month the ratings agency Moody's also expressed concern over Sri Lanka, stating the political crisis was credit negative. Moody's warned the country may struggle to refinance external debt at an affordable rate early next year.
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
