Debt advisors in Sri Lanka, IMF team on June 20: PM

ECONOMYNEXT – Financial and legal advisors appointed to help Sri Lanka with debt re-structuring are in Sri Lanka and a team from the International Monetary Fund will be in Colombo from June 20 to negotiate a program, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said.

Wickremesinghe said he had talked with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on June 07 and she promised to expedite the program and would send a team by June 20.

Sri Lanka has to re-structure its foreign debt, or make substantial progress before the IMF lends money.

“Because of that we have taken the advisors Clifford Chance and Lazard,” Wickremesinghe said in a video statement.

“By now they have come to Sri Lanka. We hope to conclude these matter by end June.”

Sri Lanka is printing money to finance some state expenditure and also to finance imports (sterilizing after giving dollars for imports mainly from deferred payments by India) creating forex shortages.

Wickremesinghe said money was also printed to pay for a fuel ship.

However the government had raised some taxes to finance state spending.

“We do not have rupee income,” Wickremesinghe said. “That is why we are introducing taxes. There are a few more taxes. By the end of the year we hope to end the problem with rupees.”