Sri Lanka looks to raise five billion US dollars from world lenders as a financial safety net following positive negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reports Colombo Page.
The final negotiations with the IMF are expected to commence in mid-April after Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visit to China.
Speaking to press the Governor of Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Arjuna Mahendran said the government expects to receive 1 billion US dollars from the IMF and raise the rest form other global lenders including the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
The Central Bank Governor went on to stress the need to redevelop the export sector, adding,
“The import substitution policy of the previous government was a big mistake. Our export sector urgently needs to be revitalised and the IMF also wants us to collect more taxes. Our tax collection is only a 10% of the GDP which is very pathetic. Even the Maldives collects 25% and Yemen 20%.”
Sri Lanka to hold discussions with IMF in March-April (29 Feb 2016)
The final negotiations with the IMF are expected to commence in mid-April after Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visit to China.
Speaking to press the Governor of Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Arjuna Mahendran said the government expects to receive 1 billion US dollars from the IMF and raise the rest form other global lenders including the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
The Central Bank Governor went on to stress the need to redevelop the export sector, adding,
“The import substitution policy of the previous government was a big mistake. Our export sector urgently needs to be revitalised and the IMF also wants us to collect more taxes. Our tax collection is only a 10% of the GDP which is very pathetic. Even the Maldives collects 25% and Yemen 20%.”
Sri Lanka to hold discussions with IMF in March-April (29 Feb 2016)