{"id":80989,"date":"2023-01-24T00:45:58","date_gmt":"2023-01-24T04:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=80989"},"modified":"2023-01-24T19:18:41","modified_gmt":"2023-01-24T23:18:41","slug":"the-international-monetary-fund-imf-confirms-receipt-of-indias-written-financing-assurance-in-support-of-sri-lankas-economic-revival-while-sri-lanka-expresses-hope-of-completing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=80989","title":{"rendered":"The International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirms receipt of India\u2019s written financing assurance in support of Sri Lanka\u2019s economic revival, while Sri Lanka expresses hope of completing talks on debt restructuring in six months\u2019 time."},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBy<\/p>\n

Meera Srinivasan<\/strong><\/p>\n

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has confirmed receiving India\u2019s written financing assurance in support of Sri Lanka\u2019s economic revival, Reuters news agency reported, while Sri Lanka has expressed hope of completing talks on debt restructuring in six months\u2019 time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe confirm that India has indicated to the IMF management that it is committed to deliver financing\/debt relief consistent with restoring the sustainability of Sri Lanka\u2019s public debt under the prospective IMF-supported programme,\u201d a spokesperson of the IMF, who welcomed India\u2019s assurance, was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, speaking at an event in Colombo on Tuesday, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka P. Nandalal Weerasinghe said: \u201cThere has been good progress this month with India already pledging financing assurances. We expect assurances from China and Japan soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Following last year\u2019s debilitating economic crash, Sri Lanka decided to seek IMF assistance and reached a staff-level agreement in September 2022. Although the Ranil Wickremesinghe government said an IMF programme would likely kick in before the year ended, its negotiations with creditors dragged on for months.
\nOn January 16, India became the island nation\u2019s first official creditor \u2014 China, Japan, and India are Sri Lanka\u2019s three largest bilateral creditors \u2014 to send written financing assurances to the IMF, \u201cstrongly supporting\u201d Sri Lanka\u2019s debt restructuring plan. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who was in Colombo last week, said India chose to do \u201cwhat was right\u201d rather than \u201cwait for others\u201d [creditors].<\/p>\n

China\u2019s offer<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Fund\u2019s provisional package of $2.9 billion will be approved by its Board, following similar written assurances from China and Japan. Amid speculation over the top two creditors\u2019 moves, the Export-Import Bank of China wrote to the Sri Lankan Finance Ministry, offering a two-year moratorium on its debt in support of Sri Lanka\u2019s economic revival efforts, local media reports said. However, the top Chinese bank\u2019s offer is not the same as a written assurance to the IMF that is necessary for the Fund\u2019s Board to approve the provisional package for Sri Lanka, a top source based in Colombo said. Beijing is yet to make any official remarks in this regard.<\/p>\n

The IMF has noted that Sri Lanka is currently engaged with China and Japan to obtain them. \u201cAs soon as adequate assurances are obtained and remaining requirements are met, including by the Sri Lankan authorities, a Fund-supported programme for Sri Lanka can be presented to the IMF\u2019s Executive Board for approval that would unlock much-needed financing,\u201d its spokesperson has said.<\/p>\n

Debt restructure process<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to a senior official familiar with the developments, both the IMF and the Sri Lankan government have agreed that none of the official lenders would take a haircut while giving Sri Lanka time to recover with an IMF programme. <\/p>\n

\u201cOnce the IMF\u2019s Board approves the package, the countries will hold official bilateral negotiations, to work out the restructuring plan for their respective loans,\u201d the official told The Hindu, requesting anonymity, citing the sensitivity of ongoing negotiations. However private creditors, who hold the largest chunk of Sri Lanka\u2019s foreign debt, may have to take a haircut, the source added.
\nEarlier this month, eminent economists from across the globe urged creditors to cancel Sri Lanka\u2019s debt.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Meera Srinivasan The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has confirmed receiving India\u2019s written financing assurance in support of Sri Lanka\u2019s economic revival, Reuters news agency reported, while Sri Lanka has expressed hope of completing talks on debt restructuring in six months\u2019 time. \u201cWe confirm that India has indicated to the IMF management that it is …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘The International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirms receipt of India\u2019s written financing assurance in support of Sri Lanka\u2019s economic revival, while Sri Lanka expresses hope of completing talks on debt restructuring in six months\u2019 time.’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80989"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80989"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80990,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80989\/revisions\/80990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}