CB says reserves now at $ 6.1 b

The Central Bank yesterday disclosed that the country’s reserves at present amount to $ 6.1 billion with the infusion of $ 427 million from the IMF.

“These disbursements as well as other inflows on account of workers’ remittances, inflows to the Government to finance various infrastructure development projects and inflows to the private sector have helped raise the country’s foreign reserves to a comfortable level. Accordingly, the gross official reserves (without ACU balances) now stand at US$ 6.1 billion, which is equivalent to 3.6 months of imports,” the bank said in a statement.

It said that following the seventh review of Sri Lanka’s Stand-by Arrangement (SBA) facility, the fresh funds were released, bringing the total to $ 2.13 billion since July 2009.

With the receipt of the eighth tranche, the total outstanding value will exceed 300% of Sri Lanka’s current quota, thus requiring the payment of an interest surcharge of 2% on top of the current interest rate for the portion exceeding the 300% of the quota, which is equivalent to $ 130 million.

“Despite the relatively higher interest rate, Sri Lanka considered opting for the above tranche favourably in view of the current uncertain global environment,” the Central Bank added.

The Letter of Intent (LOI) and the Technical Memorandum of Understanding (TMU) of SBA are now available on the website of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (www.cbsl.gov.lk).