- IMF to release the first tranche of the 4-year loan of USD 2.9 bn amounting to about USD 332 mn in the next couple of days.
- IMF reveals Sri Lanka will search for options to “restructure” domestic debt: says the authorities and their financial advisors will weigh options and associated legal procedures to optimise the design of a local debt treatment: authorities expected to announce parameters of such external & domestic debt operations before end-April: previously, CB Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe asserted there would not be any local debt restructure.
- IMF to start “in-depth governance diagnostic exercise” on Sri Lanka, a first in Asia: wealth transfer tax & inheritance tax also to be introduced in Sri Lanka from 2025: Ceylon Chamber of Commerce congratulates Govt on securing IMF Programme.
- Mission Chief for Sri Lanka and Asia Pacific, IMF Masahiro Nozaki says the Central Bank must purchase USD 1.4 bn from the market in 2023 to rebuild the reserve: says a period of 4-10 years granted to repay the new loan from the IMF.
- Moody’s Analytics says Sri Lanka has a difficult road ahead irrespective of how much funding it receives from multilateral and global financial agencies: asserts “the IMF support is definitely not like the silver bullet they think”: also says the exuberance will fade unless there are some significant improvements from the Govt.
- SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara files a contempt of court charge before Supreme Court against Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardene for not complying with a court order not to withhold allocated funds through the Budget to hold LG polls.
- NCPI rate of Inflation almost flat at 53.6% in Feb’23 from 53.2% in Jan’23: food inflation decreases to 49% from 53.6% in Jan’23: non-food Inflation increases to 57.4% in Feb’23 from 52.9% in Jan’23.
- Justice Minister Dr Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe and Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Sabry to visit South Africa to further study on establishing a “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” in Sri Lanka.
- Colombo University Economics Professor Sirimal Abeyrratne says he has not seen the IMF conditions for the loan as yet: asserts however that the programme will improve Sri Lanka’s credit worthiness enabling it to borrow from other financial institutions: also says there will be multi-lateral and bi-lateral lenders willing to provide funds to Sri Lanka, while the Govt could also access commercial borrowings.
- Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara says fuel prices would be reduced by a considerable margin at the routine fuel price revision according to the fuel price formula next month: also says the Govt would be able to procure fuel shipments at a lower and competitive bidding after the IMF bailout.
Sri Lanka Original Narrative Summary: 22/03
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