Sri Lanka Finance Secretary Says Talks With IMF Are Ongoing
Sri Lanka Finance Secretary Says Talks With IMF Are Ongoing
(Bloomberg) -- Sri Lanka continues to discuss with the International Monetary Fund for a lending program, Finance Secretary S. R. Attygalle said.
The presentation of the 2021 budget in November would “provide a clearer policy path,” Attygalle said in a telephone interview Thursday, without elaborating on the details of the program.
Citigroup Inc. in a report Wednesday cited Sri Lanka’s State Minister of Finance Ajith Cabraal as saying in a call that the “initial urgency” for IMF financing is no longer there, arguing that the nation has enough resources to manage their debt repayments. The government in April had asked the lender for funds under its Rapid Financing Instrument, while a $1.5 billion program expired in June.
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Sri Lanka will only look to tap the international debt market once the budget is passed, Attygalle said. The government will repay a $1 billion of bonds maturing in October, he said.
A bond sale may only happen in the second half of 2021, the Citigroup report said, citing Cabraal.
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