ByMary Izuaka Courtesy Premium Times The Indian Ocean Island nation faces its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948. Sri Lanka’s newly appointed prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, announced Monday that the country has run out of petrol stock. Reuters reports that Mr Wickremesinghe disclosed this in an address to the nation amid uncertainties over fuel […]

State of Sri Lanka’s Economy – Research Team Since early 2020, the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government appeared to implement a plan with several components for the external sector. These components included securing of multi-lateral and bi-lateral loans, monetization of selected assets, obtaining Central Bank SWAPs, promoting Hambantota Industrial & Pharmaceutical Zones, Colombo Port City and other […]

Courtesy Business Standard Export Import Bank of India (Exim Bank), however, said there is no overdue payment from the Sri Lankan government as of now The lines of credit extended to the Sri Lankan government by India Exim Bank may go through a “rough patch” as the island nation faces the worst economic crisis, a senior bank […]

By Asoka Bandarage Courtesy Inter Press Service World Bank, Washington DC.The multilateral Asian Development Bank and the World Bank owns 13% and 9% of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt, respectively. WASHINGTON DC, May 11 2022 (IPS) – Sri Lanka is in the throes of an unprecedented economic crisis. Faced with a shortage of foreign exchange and defaulting on […]

By Kandaswami Subramanian Courtesy The Indian Express How many more International Monetary Fund programmes will Lanka need to put itself through to reach that manna of economic stabilisation? This is not the first time that Sri Lanka has come out of a battle with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It is sufficiently battle-scarred over the years […]

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia May 5 (Reuters) – Sri Lanka plans to replace its current unrealistic” budget and is in talks with the World Bank to extend its support by $300 million to $700 million, the country’s finance minister said on Wednesday. The island nation, hit hard by COVID-19 and short of revenue after steep tax cuts […]

Courtesy Adaderana Minister of Finance Ali Sabry, delivering a special statement in parliament today (May 05), revealed that Sri Lanka’s foreign liquidity reserves, which amounted to USD 7.6 billion by the end of 2019, have dropped to a critically low level below USD 50 million. Speaking further, the lawmaker said the reserves declined to USD […]

Courtesy Adaderana UPDATE: The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has announced the official exchange rates of the US Dollar. Accordingly, the selling rate of the USD is listed as Rs. 350.05 and the buying rate is Rs. 362.99, according to the central bank.  Several licensed commercial banks in Sri Lanka today (May 04) announced their […]

Courtesy Adaderana The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is forecasting the economy of Sri Lanka to grow by 2.6% this year down from 3.6% in 2021. In its World Economic Outlook (WEO), a survey published twice a year, the IMF showed a projection of 2.7% for Sri Lanka’s real GDP growth. The IMF has meanwhile urged Sri Lanka […]

Courtesy Adaderana The World Bank has agreed to provide USD 600 million in financial assistance to address the current economic crisis in Sri Lanka, the President’s Media Division (PMD) says. The World Bank Country Manager Chiyo Kanda, has stated that USD 400 million will be released shortly, as the first tranche. Ms. Chiyo Kanda’s remarks […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka must tighten monetary policy, raise tax and adopt flexible exchange rates to address its debt crisis, a senior International Monetary Fund (IMF) official said on Tuesday. The country of 22 million people has requested loans from the IMF as it struggles to pay for imports amid crushing debt and a sharp […]

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Sri Lanka’s ongoing negotiations with the IMF will unavoidably impact its discussions with China for securing US $ 2.5 billion, China’s Ambassador Qi Zhenhong said.  In an interactive dialogue with a team of journalists, he said China was closely monitoring the negotiations to know the terms and conditions . He said debt […]

Courtesy https://borneobulletin.com April 26, 2022 COLOMBO (AFP) – Crisis-hit Sri Lanka’s stock exchange halted again yesterday after a nearly 13 per cent plunge, derailing the bourse’s tentative re-opening after a two-week break aimed at forestalling a market collapse. The island nation is grappling with its worst economic downturn since independence in 1948, with months of […]

By Haridass Sankar* Courtesy EurasiaReview Sri Lanka is undergoing a severe economic crisis and is at the risk of devolving into a failed state. The country’s foreign reserves are fast depleting, falling from $5 billion in 2019 to 1.8 billion in 2021, despite high inflation and a debt-to-GDP ratio of 110 per cent. From health to defence, […]

Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake In Cherry Blossom lined Washington DC in the glare of global media last week Sri Lanka became the poster child of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF), Spring Meetings. The strategic Indian Ocean island’s pathetic plight featured on major media and television channels that craft the global narrative, with images of people in queues […]

Deena Kamel Courtesy The National News Discussions emphasised the need for implementing a ‘credible and coherent’ strategy to restore macroeconomic stability. The International Monetary Fund said it had fruitful technical discussions” with Sri Lanka on its request for a loan programme, as the island nation grapples with a severe economic crisis that has sparked protests […]

Courtesy Business Standard This comes as India’s southern neighbour deals with its worst-ever economic crisis. Sri Lanka could be given temporary classification as a lower-income country — from the current middle-income status — to help it restructure its debt. And, it should also be given emergency funding similar to the one granted to Ukraine. These […]

Courtesy Hiru News IMF team for Sri Lanka completes initial technical discussions on an IMF-supported program and have issued a statement. The Statement:Washington, DC: During the 2022 IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C., IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and other senior members of IMF management met with a Sri Lankan delegation, led […]

Courtesy Adaderana (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund said on Saturday it held fruitful technical discussions” with Sri Lanka on its loan request, while the World Bank said it was preparing an emergency aid package for the crisis-stricken country. Sri Lanka, an island country of 22 million people, is struggling to pay for imports amid […]

Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake, In Cherry Blossom lined Washington DC in the glare of global media last week Sri Lanka became the poster child of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF), Spring Meetings. The strategic Indian Ocean island’s pathetic plight featured on major media and television channels that craft the global narrative, with images of people in queues […]

Courtesy Adaderana The International Monetary Fund said on Saturday that its staff held fruitful technical discussions” with Sri Lankan authorities on the crisis-wracked country’s request for an IMF-supported loan program this week. The Fund said in a statement that the discussions included the need for Sri Lanka to implement a credible and coherent strategy” to restore macroeconoimc […]

Frances Coppola Courtesy Forbes The IMF has just published a new review of Argentina’s economy. It is grim reading. Argentina is in trouble: economic conditions have worsened considerably since the last IMF review, back in June 2018. But the review also reveals that the IMF could be in even bigger trouble. It is repeating the same mistakes […]

Courtesy Business Standard India has extended the duration of the $400-million currency swap facility which had been concluded with the island nation in January.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror The International Monetary Fund said discussions with Sri Lanka on a potential IMF loan program are at an early stage and any deal would require “adequate assurances” that the island country’s debts can be put on a sustainable path. In a statement emailed to Reuters, IMF Sri Lanka Mission Chief Masahiro […]

Courtesy Adaderana Sri Lanka may take nearly three weeks to appoint advisers to guide an overhaul of its debt, according to the country’s finance chief, a move seen as key to unlock emergency funds needed to ease its worsening economic crisis. The country is aiming to choose financial and legal advisers in 15 to 20 […]

Courtesy Adaderana The World Bank says it is ready to provide emergency support to Sri Lanka and protect the vulnerable people amidst the unprecedented economic crisis in the country. World Bank Vice President for South Asia Hartwig Schafer said he held talks with Sri Lankan Finance Minister Ali Sabry and Governor of the Central Bank […]

Courtesy Hiru News World Bank’s Vice President for the South Asia Region Hartwig Schafer states that he met Finance Minister Ali Sabry and CBSL Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe and discussed actions to address the economic crisis, support stabilization and recovery, and protect the vulnerable people in Sri Lanka

Courtesy Hiru News Sri Lanka’s government Treasury Bill yields increased to 24.36% at the auction today (20). Rs 97.5 billion was offered by CBSL and Rs 48 billion was accepted. The weighted average yield Rate was 23.21 % for 91 days 24.77% for 182 days and & 24.36% for 364 day Treasury bills.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror Down to 1, 000-2, 000 a day from 4, 000-5, 000 SL welcomed 43, 761 tourists from April 1 to 18 Cumulative tourist arrivals up to April 18 at 329,095 Sri Lanka’s tourist arrival rate has started to witness a dip in the month of April due to the ongoing economic […]

Vikas Dhoot Courtesy The Hindu NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand says ‘mind–boggling’ farm subsidies make sector dependent on State ‘crutches’ India could end up facing a Sri Lanka–type economic crisis if it doesn’t shun the culture of freebies” and subsidies in sectors like agriculture, NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand warned, stressing that the mind–boggling” support measures for farmers has made […]