Bhathiya Barukanda
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Communications Department Director Julie Kozack said it is ready to move forward with programme discussions after the Presidential election is held and a new government is formed based on the choice of the people.
Julie Kozack made these remarks while responding to a question whether it is possible to renegotiate or revisit the debt sustainability assessment with regard to the EFF programme as claimed by opposition factions.
“With respect to the upcoming Presidential election, this is for the people of Sri Lanka to decide. From the IMF’s position, what we see is a programme that has made significant achievements, but that it is important to safeguard these achievements to enable the country to fully emerge from one of its worst crises. And as mentioned in a media release during the timing of the Third Review, the timing of the Third Review will be discussed with the government following the election. So we will move forward with programme discussions after the Presidential election is held and a new government, or the outcome based on the choice of the people, we will be ready to go with that,” she said.
“On June 12th of 2024, our Executive Board completed the 2024 Article IV Consultation and the Second Review of the EFF programme. That provided the country with access to about 336 million US dollars. Programme performance remains strong. Reform efforts are bearing fruit. Economic growth is starting to revive. Inflation is coming down. Reserves, international reserves are increasing and revenue mobilisation is improving. Nonetheless, important vulnerabilities do remain, and sustaining reform momentum is going to be essential,”
“An IMF team visited Colombo earlier in August and issued a media release at that time. As mentioned in the media release, the execution of the domestic debt restructuring and finalising the agreement with the official creditor committee and China EXIM Bank are major milestones. The staff assessed what’s the so-called joint working framework, and the staff has also provided an assessment of this framework to the Sri Lankan authorities. Furthermore, at the request of the Sri Lankan authorities, the IMF staff has shared this assessment with the financial advisors of the country’s bondholders. So that is where our role has been on the debt. And I also just want to reemphasise that with respect to debt restructuring, the IMF does not take part in the negotiations. In the debt restructuring negotiations and discussions, those negotiations are between the member country and its creditors, with the IMF making an overall assessment of debt sustainability,” Julie Kozack added.
