First round of talks with IMF a success - PM

• We are now participating in negotiations as a bankrupt country and have to face a more complicated situation  than on previous negotiations
• SL will hand over a debt restructuring programme report to IMF in August this year
• Our country has held talks with the IMF on many occasions before. But this time the situation is different from all those previous occasions
• In the past, we have held discussions as a developing country. In such a case, both parties have only to reach an agreement on the ECF or Extended Credit Facility

By Yohan Perera and  Ajith Siriwardana  

The first round of discussions with International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been a success but the assistance depends on the debt restructuring programme which Sri Lanka has to come up with, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament yesterday.  

 Making a special statement in the House Mr. Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka will hand over a debt restructuring programme report to IMF in August this year. “The expert companies which we have hired are in the process of preparing a debt restructuring programme and we will hand over the report on it to IMF in August this year,” the Prime Minister said.  

“Our country has held talks with the IMF on many occasions before. But this time the situation is different from all those previous occasions. In the past, we have held discussions as a developing country. In such a case, both parties have only to reach an agreement on the ECF or Extended Credit Facility. It is like moving along a straight line.However now the situation is different. We are now participating in the negotiations as a bankrupt country. Therefore, we have to face a more difficult and complicated situation than previous negotiations. Once a staff-level agreement is reached, this will be submitted to the IMF Board of Directors for approval. But due to the state of bankruptcy our country is in, we have to submit a plan on our debt sustainability to them separately. Only when they are satisfied with that plan can we reach an agreement at the staff level. This is not a straight-forward process. We have been able to end the round of discussion effectively despite these difficulties.