Kathmandu, April 27
To ease the debt issue, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) advised Sri Lanka to tighten its monetary policy, boost taxes, and adopt a flexible exchange rate on Tuesday.
”We had a really nice, constructive, technical conversation last weekend as we prepared for the discussions,” Anna-Marie Gould-Wolf, executive director of the IMF’s Asia and the Pacific division, said via video conference.
Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Ali Sabari and Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe recently met with IMF officials to discuss the country’s financial needs.
Sri Lanka had already put a halt to the repayment of its external debt. ”, he explained ”There will be progress in gathering cash to ensure the loan’s long-term viability. To keep inflation under control, monetary policy must be tightened. Flexible exchange rates are required.” He made no reference to the importance of any IMF package or the time frame for reaching a deal with Sri Lanka.
