Sri Lanka’s Premier Wants IMF Program in Place By Mid-June
- Vows to slash expenditure to ‘bare bones’ to meet conditions
- To seek debt restructuring from China after agreeing IMF deal
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Sri Lanka is looking to fast-track talks with the International Monetary Fund and agree on a loan by mid-June so that it can then approach other lenders for urgently needed funds.
The bankrupt nation will slash its budget expenditure to “bare bones” and hopes to break even or post a primary surplus of 1% of gross domestic product by 2025, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in an interview at his office in Colombo Wednesday. Even so, that would be smaller than the 2% surplus the IMF has sought, which could be a sticking point.