Paris Club provides financing assurances to IMF on Sri Lanka
The Paris Club Creditors have provided financing assurances to support the International Monetary Fund’s approval of an Extended Fund Facility for Sri Lanka, the President’s Media Division said.
The Paris Club Creditors announced their decision to provide financing assurances to support the approval by the IMF Executive Board of the envisaged IMF program for Sri Lanka, which would allow to restore the country’s macroeconomic stability.
The assurance was given following a meeting by Paris Club members held on January 25, 2023, in the presence of representatives from Hungary, Saudi Arabia, the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development and India, as well as from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
They examined the macroeconomic and financial situation of Sri Lanka, including its long-term debt sustainability, and the need for a debt treatment by all bilateral creditors to both fill the financing gap and to ensure Sri Lanka’s debt sustainability in line with the proposed Extended Fund Facility.
“We acknowledge that Sri Lanka authorities had the opportunity to present their economic and financial situation to its creditors, which underscored its need for debt treatment from all creditors. They also presented their reform program that will be supported by an IMF arrangement requiring a debt treatment to restore debt sustainability, as well as the prior actions already implemented,” Paris Club Creditors said..
Paris Club members as well as Hungary, Saudi Arabia and India continue to look forward to working together along with all bilateral creditors and to engage with other key stakeholders in order to proceed with a comparable debt restructuring as soon as possible.
Members further expressed appreciation for the specific and credible financing assurances issued by India on January 16, 2023 and its coordination with the Paris Club.
The Paris Club members as well as Hungary and Saudi Arabia urged other official bilateral creditors, including China, to do the same in line with IMF program parameters as soon as possible. (Colombo Gazette)
