IMF May Resume Loan

The International Monetary Fund could resume discussions with the Sri Lankan government on stalled concessional loans soon, but the lender will want to see the government's revised plan on reducing poverty first, a senior official said.







The International Monetary Fund could resume discussions with the Sri Lankan government on stalled concessional loans soon, but the lender will want to see the government's revised plan on reducing poverty first, a senior official said. "We look forward to renewing policy discussion some time in the new year," Jeremy Carter, resident representative of the IMF, told Dow Jones Newswires in a recent interview.

The second tranche of a $567 million IMF loan package to Sri Lanka has been on hold since November last year after a power struggle between the president and prime minister delayed a resumption of peace talks between Tamil Tiger rebels and the government and led to general elections in April.

A resumption of the loan is important if Sri Lanka hopes to borrow more from other multilaterals which take the lead from the IMF.

Loans from other donors like the World Bank have fallen this year as a result.

Unlike the previous government, the economic policy focus of the newly elected coa