IMF, Sri Lanka reach staff-level agreement on 5th review of reform program

Source: Xinhua| 2025-10-09 19:37:16|Editor: huaxia

Evan Papageorgiou, mission chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Sri Lanka, attends a press conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Oct. 9, 2025. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Sri Lankan authorities have reached staff-level agreement on economic policies to conclude the fifth review of Sri Lanka's reform program supported by the IMF's Extended Fund Facility, the IMF said on Thursday. (Photo by Gayan Sameera/Xinhua)

COLOMBO, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Sri Lankan authorities have reached staff-level agreement on economic policies to conclude the fifth review of Sri Lanka's reform program supported by the IMF's Extended Fund Facility, the IMF said on Thursday.

Once the review is approved by the IMF Executive Board, Sri Lanka will have access to about 347 million U.S. dollars in financing, the IMF said in a statement.

The IMF said that economic reforms implemented by the Sri Lankan authorities have continued to support the recovery, with inflation progressing to target, reserves accumulating, and real GDP growth and revenue mobilization outperforming expectations.

Advancing reforms is key to ensuring macroeconomic stability, anchoring the recovery, and equipping Sri Lanka to better withstand external shocks amid an uncertain global environment, the IMF said.

An IMF mission team visited Sri Lanka from Sept. 24 to Thursday to discuss recent macroeconomic developments and progress in implementing economic and financial policies under the Extended Fund Facility arrangement.

In March 2023, the IMF approved a 48-month Extended Fund Facility arrangement, amounting to approximately 3 billion dollars, to support Sri Lanka's economic reform and recovery efforts. ■