Colombo: The leader of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, is committed to supporting the economic recovery of Sri Lanka, praising the “remarkable reversal” of the nation in money during online discussions with its president.
The director general of the International Monetary Fund promised unpertified aid to the South Asian nation at a virtual meeting with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, his office announced on Saturday, March 8.
“The economy has stabilized and now behaves well,” said Georgieva during his night meeting with Dissanayake, according to a video clip shared by the Sri Lankan presidency.
“It is so important for people, especially for the poor. We see a remarkable reversal of days when it was close to collapse,” she said.
Sri Lanka obtained a bailiff of the IMF of US 2.9 billion in 2023 after declaring its first sovereign defect in April 2022 following an unprecedented exchange shortage and an economic collapse.
Dissanayake, a self-economized leftist, came to power in September promising to renegotiate the loan of the IMF, but has since been continued with the painful and unpopular austerity measures of its predecessor.
“Acting at the national level to strengthen the economy during this period of greater world uncertainty is even more important than if we were in a kind of world economic situation of simple vanilla,” said Georgieva.
She added that the IMF “would be very happy and eager to support you fully in what was a successful trip.”
Dissanayake told him that he wanted to reduce the debt of the island and stimulate private investment.
“To achieve this, we will present appropriate legislation, including a law on the protection of investors, and will ensure a secure environment favorable to all investors,” said his office.
Last month, the IMF published 334 million US dollars, the fourth episode of the four -year rescue loan, to support the reform program.
The IMF said that the reforms bore fruit and that the economic recovery was remarkable, the real GDP of Sri Lanka by recovering “40% of its loss suffered between 2018 and 2023”.
