IMF to arrive in Colombo today to discuss Sri Lanka’s delayed-loan over political crisis

IMF to arrive in Colombo today to discuss Sri Lanka’s delayed-loan over political crisis

(FASTNEWS|COLOMBO) – Officials attached to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka on Friday (15) to hold discussions about the granting of the 5th tranche of the USD 1.5 billion three-year extended fund facility.

The IMF had delayed discussions on Sri Lanka’s next loan tranche due to the country’s political crisis in late 2018.

The Government was sacked on 26 October by President Maithripala Sirisena due to differences with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was backing social market economic policies.

Since the removal of Wickremesinghe, Sirisena appointed Sri Lanka’s former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister, dissolved the Parliament, and called for a fresh election, but the Supreme Court ordered a suspension of that decree until it had heard petitions challenging the move as unconstitutional, which made Sirisena to reinstate Wickremesinghe despite previously insisting that he would never reappoint him [Ranil Wickremesinghe] as Prime Minister.

The IMF has so far disbursed USD 759.9 million in four instalments out of a USD 1.5 billion fund facility it agreed in 2016.