A Preliminary agreement has been reached with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to allow the government to access about US$345mil (RM1.4bil) from its US$2.9bil (RM11.8bil) bailout programme.
The Washington-based lender also warned yesterday that higher energy prices, the El Nino climate phenomenon and the Middle East conflict could threaten its economic recovery.
The agreement marks the latest milestone in Sri Lanka’s recovery from its worst economic crisis, which culminated in a sovereign default on US$46bil of external debt in 2022.
Sri Lanka secured a four-year US$2.9bil IMF rescue package in 2023.
“Sri Lanka’s economy has proved remarkably resilient to successive shocks,” the IMF said in a statement, noting the economy had recorded 11 consecutive quarters of expansion after contracting 7.3% in 2022.
But the country “continues to face downside risks from uncertainty over the duration and intensity of the Middle East conflict, global trade policy and the impact of El Nino”, it added. — AFP
