Sri Lanka has sought technical advice from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in better managing the debt servicing as well as boosting foreign reserves, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa revealed yesterday. 

He said that the IMF has in writing agreed to extend support to Sri Lanka following a request. 

“We have requested for technical support from the IMF in writing and it has been confirmed. We need to know how we could better manage our foreign debt service challenge as well as boost reserves,” Basil said, though he denied this gesture doesn’t mean Sri Lanka has resorted to an IMF bailout. 

“Before we explore options or seek IMF help, Sri Lanka must know how vulnerable or not the situation is. IMF technical assistance will help Sri Lanka better understand the challenges and opportunities,” Basil added. 

In an interaction with journalists last night, the Finance Minister expressed confidence that Sri Lanka will honour the $ 6.9 billion debt servicing challenge in 2022 whilst stressing that improving self-sufficiency than resorting to imports, boosting local production and exports are more credible means to strengthen the economy than relying on loans be it bilateral or multilateral.

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