Sri Lanka Tsunami — Help Us

Sri Lanka has asked for around US$ 320 mn worth of assistance from the International Monetary Fund to partially ease the US$ 1.











5 bn tsunami reconstruction bill, a top official said. Sri Lanka has asked for around US$ 320 mn worth of assistance from the International Monetary Fund to partially ease the US$ 1.5 bn tsunami reconstruction bill, a top official said. "We have formally asked the Fund for over US$ 300 mn in assistance.







About US$ 150 mn will come through an emergency credit facility and the rest will be a moratorium on our interest payments for this year," Central Bank Governor, Sunil Mendis told a news conference on Wednesday.

The emergency funds will be repaid over the medium term of about five years, and the monies should be available within the next four weeks, he said adding that the authorities were making all efforts to secure the funds as fast as possible.

The moratorium on interest payments will go a long way to ease Sri Lanka's liquidity crunch this year.

"You are looking at an immediate improvement in the cashflow of about US$ 100 mn," explains Jeremy Carter, IMF's Resident Representative.

Sri Lanka is currently repaying its US$ 253 mn standby f