The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is scheduled to meet on February 28, 2025 to discuss and approve third review of Sri Lanka’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme.
The IMF staff and the Sri Lankan authorities reached a staff-level agreement on the Third Review of Sri Lanka’s EFF program on November 23, 2024. Once approved by the IMF’s Executive Board, Sri Lanka will have access to around USD 333 million in financing.
The IMF had previously stated that the release of the fourth tranche of Sri Lanka’s EFF programme is pending its Executive Board’s approval and that the approval is contingent upon implementation by the authorities of prior actions, including submission of the 2025 Budget that is “consistent with parameters identified under the program”.
However, during IMF’s weekly press briefing held on February 06, IMF Spokesperson Julie Kozack emphasized that Sri Lanka’s ambitious reform agenda is delivering commendable outcomes, noting that the economy expanded by 5.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024.
“Average headline and core inflation remain contained well below the target during the fourth quarter of 2024. And international reserves increased to $6.1 billion at the end of 2024”, she added.
Responding to a question raised by a journalist during the weekly press briefing, regarding Sri Lanka’s Budget 2025, the IMF Spokesperson said:
“With respect to the specific question on the budget, what I can share is that the staff-level agreement that I mentioned, which was reached in November, will be presented to the Executive Board or is subject to Executive Board approval, but it’s also contingent upon, among other things, implementation by the authorities of prior actions, including submission of the 2025 budget that is consistent with parameters identified under the program.”
Accordingly, the IMF Executive Board meeting for the third review of EFF program follows Sri Lanka’s President Anura Kumara Dissanayake presenting his maiden full Budget, which is the 79th Budget Speech of Independent Sri Lanka, to the Parliament on Monday (Feb. 17).
