Sri Lanka Secures $1.5 Billion IMF Loan to Help Bolster Finances
- Nation agrees to narrow deficit with more tax revenues
- Sri Lanka also seeking to sell $3 billion of global bonds
Pedestrians cross a road as a police officer directs traffic during the morning rush hour in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Tuesday, July 21, 2015. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka kept its interest rates unchanged and said near-record-low inflation is likely to continue for the next few months as the country prepares for its parliamentary elections due Aug. 17.
Photographer: Kuni Takahashi/BloombergSri Lanka reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund for $1.5 billion in loans to help lower its borrowing costs and fix its finances.
The South Asian nation has pledged to narrow its fiscal deficit to 3.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2020 through “a comprehensive set of reforms to Sri Lanka’s tax system,” the Washington-based lender said in a statement. The budget gap widened to 7.4 percent of GDP in 2015 from 5.7 percent a year earlier, according to the central bank.