Sri Lanka’s debt and governance in focus alongside IMF Annual Meetings in Morocco

Friday, 13 October 2023 01:43 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

IMF officials to take part in closed-door event organised by anti-corruption collective

A closed-door event titled ‘Sri Lanka: Pathways to Debt Sustainability and Governance Reform’ will be held today (13 October) alongside the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Annual Meetings in Marrakesh, Morocco, hosted by organisations connected to the ‘Sri Lankan Civil Society Initiative on Anti-Corruption Reform for Economic Recovery’.

The event will focus on two key priorities in steering Sri Lanka to recovery from its debt crisis: 1) the two recent governance diagnostics on Sri Lanka by civil society and the IMF and 2) the role of the IMF, the Government, and the country’s creditors in achieving a successful and sustainable restructuring of Sri Lanka’s debt.

The ‘Civil Society Governance Diagnostic Report on the Anti-Corruption Landscape of Sri Lanka’ was released in mid-September. This was a comprehensive set of 34 governance reform recommendations for Sri Lanka aimed at addressing the root causes of Sri Lanka’s current crisis. In late September, the IMF released its governance diagnostic on Sri Lanka, which is the first ever IMF governance diagnostic in Asia.

These two governance diagnostics have the potential to establish a solid foundation for improving rule of law, transparency and accountability. They will be discussed at the event as improvements in debt governance are vital to prevent countries from experiencing recurrent debt problems.

The event will also delve deeper into the need for stricter debt sustainability targets, including significant haircuts with Sri Lanka’s external creditors that would reduce the overall debt stock.

IMF Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka Peter Breuer, Verité Research Executive Director Dr. Nishan de Mel, Transparency International Sri Lanka Executive Director Nadishani Perera, and Global Sovereign Advisory Senior Research Analyst Theo Maret will be speaking and answering questions. The panel will be moderated by Thomson Reuters Emerging Markets Correspondent Jorgelina do Rosario.

Invitees for this closed-door event include several executive directors of the IMF Board, regional heads of multilateral institutions, several major stakeholders and professionals, and the top-ranking members of the Sri Lankan delegation to the IMF annual meeting in Marrakesh.