By: Staff Writer

Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka has already met 33 of the around 100 commitments of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme at present and it has fulfilled all prior actions to obtain EFF and fulfilled follow up actions that should be completed before September this year, a former finance ministry secretary who was involved in previous IMF negotiations said.

He added that the government is determined to strictly adhere to this IMF economic reforms program or bypassing economy to save the dying economy at present.

One commitment, the establishment of an online fiscal transparency platform, was still to be met.

Another unmet commitment was parliamentary approval of the new Central Bank Act, prepared in consultation with IMF staff. Even though a bill was published on 7 March, an amendment to the act has not been made.

“IMF welcomes the authorities’ ongoing efforts in meeting key commitments under the Fund-supported program. Performance under the program will be formally assessed in the context of the first review of the Extended Fund Facility arrangement, which is expected to be undertaken in September 2023”, IMF sources said.

Sri Lanka had verifiably met 33 of the trackable program commitments of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program as at the end of June 2023 but had failed eight, according to the ‘IMF Tracker’, an online tool launched by Verité Research.

Growing number of failed commitments, the number of unfulfilled commitments doubled from four (including one partially met) in May, to eight in June 2023.

These include, obtaining Cabinet approval for the restructuring plan of key State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), enacting new anti-corruption legislation, publishing the annual reports of all 52 major SOEs for 2022, and preparing a plan to gradually eliminate import restrictions.

Sri Lanka is mostly failing in two areas: the passage of legislation, and information dissemination. Between March and June, the country committed to enact three significant laws: a revision of betting and gaming levies, enactment of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Act, and a new Anti-Corruption Act. Drafts of these Bills were published on the website of the Printing Department on 4 April, 7 March, and 27 April 2023, respectively. However, these drafts are still pending Parliamentary approval and enactment.

On the information dissemination front, three primary commitments remain unfulfilled. The first is the establishment of a fiscal transparency platform, to semi-annually publish significant public procurement contracts, a list of firms receiving tax exemptions through the Board of Investment, and a list of individuals and firms receiving tax exemptions on luxury vehicle imports. This remains undone.

The second commitment pertains to the publication of annual reports for all 52 major SOEs up to 2022. A recent infographic by publicfinance.lk revealed that only 11 out of the 52 key SOEs have published their annual reports up to 2022. This lack of information dissemination can also be seen in the non-publication of a plan to phase out import restrictions.

Lack of Information is also a concern. As at end June, the commitments classified as “unknown”, where the information required to make an assessment was not available, had risen to 14%, more than double the percentage of the previous month (6%).

Colombo (LNW): An Expert Committee has been appointed to probe the recent events at the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital and Kandy National Hospital where several patients experienced allergic reactions after they were administered with antibiotics.

The Committee chaired by Dr. Chandima Jeewandara, Head of the Allergy Immunology and Cell Biology Unit at the University of Sri Jayawardenapura will probe into the root cause of the said events and prepare a report on the matter, according to Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella.

Meanwhile, many concerned parties are pressuring the government to improve the government health service, whilst others demand that the Health Minister should step down from his position.
 

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday expressed his gratitude to Sri Lanka for supporting and helping Pakistan in reaching an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

During a telephonic conversation with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, PM Shehbaz acknowledged the role played by Sri Lanka as a friend and well-wisher of Pakistan.

The PM said both Islamabad and Colombo are close and reliable friends and commended the island nation’s role in regional peace and prosperity.

PM Shehbaz also expressed confidence that the two nations will soon come out of the vortex of current economic difficulties.

Reciprocating the PM’s sentiments of goodwill, the Sri Lankan president said Pakistan is a close friend and helping friends is friendship.

Wickremesinghe appreciated Shehbaz’s efforts in steering the country out of a difficult situation and felicitated him on reaching an agreement with the IMF.

On the occasion of PM Shehbaz’s meeting with Managing Director IMF Kristalina Georgieva, the Sri Lankan President stressed that the IMF should help Pakistan.

The Sri Lankan president had informed the MD IMF about the problems faced by his country due to default and stressed that Pakistan should be saved from this situation.

With sky-high inflation and foreign exchange reserves barely enough to cover one month of controlled imports, analysts had warned that Pakistan’s economic crisis could have spiralled into a debt default in the absence of an IMF deal.

The IMF said that Pakistan’s new SBA-supported programme would provide a policy anchor for addressing domestic and external imbalances and a framework for financial support from multilateral and bilateral partners.

The programme would focus on the implementation of the fiscal 2023-24 budget to facilitate Pakistan’s needed fiscal adjustment and ensure debt sustainability, while protecting critical social spending, the IMF added.

Notably, after receiving another $3 billion in the next nine months under the standby arrangement, Pakistan is set to become the fourth-largest IMF borrower in the world.

On the other hand, the IMF board has conveyed its concerns about Pakistan’s past poor record and advised it to complete the new programme to reduce the trust deficit.

Last week, the premier had also held a telephonic conversation with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and assured her that Islamabad was serious this time to bridge the trust deficit.

Source: Tribune

By: Staff Writer

Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka will not be needing the assistance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after 2027, in the backdrop where the economy of the country indicates growth, setting an example to the international community as a country that has emerged from a meltdown, said Finance State Minister Shehan Semasinghe.

The Minister made these remarks addressing a programme held at the Presidential Secretariat to inform trade union representatives about the government’s programme for local debt optimisation.

He added that Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves have now increased to US $3.5 billion, and the inflation will come down to the level of 7 per cent to 8 per cent by next month.

However, statistics indicate that “hot money” investors in government treasury bills and bonds continue with their fore-warned exodus after gaining enormous profits at the government’s expense, incurring a drop of about US $40 million in Sri Lankan forex investment in treasury bills and bonds, from approximately US $604 million to US $564 million last week.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Rupee in 24 days (from June 23 to July 17) has been depreciated by 4.1 per cent against the US Dollar, indicating a drop of Rs. 12.79, thereby surging the selling price of the US Dollar up to Rs. 327.16.

The State Minister’s comments about “positive economic growth” come in on the sidelines of the government of Sri Lanka seeking Parliament approval to increase the borrowing limit by a further Rs. 9,000 billion.