Government says staff level agreement with IMF not a document
The Sri Lanka Government says the staff level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is not a document but only an understanding.
State Minister of Finance, Shehan Semasinghe tweeted saying the actions that need to be completed before any formal approval by the IMF Executive Board are being discussed with Government authorities.
“The IMF “Staff Level Agreement” is not a document but an understanding between the GOSL and the IMF staff. The actions that need to be completed before any formal approval by the IMF Executive Board are being discussed with government authorities. This does not mean that a “Staff Level Agreement” is given out to various individuals as alleged. The IMF press release with elements of this understanding is already in the public domain,” the State Minister said.
He was responding to a tweet by opposition MP, Dr. Harsha de Silva who questioned if the staff level agreement that has thus far been hidden even from the Parliament Committee on Public Finance has been given out to various individuals in committees appointed by the President.
Dr. Harsha de Silva said that if the allegations are true then that is a serious breach.
An mission led by Peter Breuer and Masahiro Nozaki visited Colombo from August 24 to September 1, 2022 to continue discussions on IMF support for Sri Lanka and the authorities’ comprehensive economic reform program.
At the end of the mission the Sri Lankan authorities and the IMF team reached a staff-level agreement to support the authorities’ economic adjustment and reform policies with a new 48-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with a requested access of about SDR 2.2 billion (equivalent to US$2.9 billion). (Colombo Gazette)
