Sri Lanka will miss the intended formal approval of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in December, State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe said on Wednesday (14).
In a Twitter message, he said, however, the government is working hard to complete the required process by early next year.
He further said that Sri Lanka is yet to receive financial assurances from its bilateral creditors.
The State Minister said Sri Lanka’s bilateral creditors have indicated their intention to support Sri Lanka and the government is thankful to the creditors.
Shehan Semasinghe added that the authorities are having continuous progressive discussions and exchanges of information.
His comments come in response to a report by Reuters, stating that the executive board of the IMF is not expected to formally approve Sri Lanka’s $2.9 billion bailout before year-end.
The report further said the IMF’s online board calendar, which has added meetings through Dec. 22 to discuss progress and new tranches for a number of emerging economies, makes no mention of Sri Lanka.
Seeking a way out of its worst economic crisis in decades, Sri Lanka reached an IMF staff-level agreement in June with the deal subject to approval and contingent on Sri Lanka authorities following through with previously agreed measures.
Sri Lanka has also held two rounds of discussions with its bilateral creditors thus far on debt restructuring. (NewsWire)