LNP – IMF awaits Sri Lanka’s electricity tariff adjustments to approve fourth review?

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that the approval for the fourth review of Sri Lanka’s programme under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) is contingent on the government completing prior actions, including restoring electricity cost recovery pricing.

Addressing the IMF’s weekly press briefing, the IMF Spokesperson Julie Kozack stated that the completion of the review is subject to approval by the executive board and that the IMF expects the board meeting to take place in the coming weeks.

However, Kozack noted that the precise timing of that board meeting is contingent on two things – the first is the implementation of prior actions.Â

She stated that the main prior actions are relating to restoring electricity cost recovery pricing and ensuring proper function of the automatic electricity price adjustment mechanism.

The second contingency is the completion of the financing assurances review which will focus on confirming multilateral partners committed financing contributions to Sri Lanka and whether adequate progress has been made in debt restructuring, the IMF Spokesperson highlighted.

“So in a nutshell, completion of the review is subject to approval by the executive board. We expect the board meeting to take place in the coming weeks and it is contingent on the two said matters”, Kozack expressed.

On April 25th IMF staff and the Sri Lankan authorities reached staff-level agreement on the 4th review of Sri Lanka’s program under the EFF. Once the review is approved by the IMF executive board, Sri Lanka will have access to about USD 344 million in financing.