Sri Lanka’s IMF bailout seems to be further delayed

The approval for Sri Lanka’s $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is likely to go beyond January 2023, State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe said.

Accordingly, the approval of the IMF’s Board of Directors is likely to delay further, despite recent claims that approval would be given in January 2023.

Semasinghe assured, however, that maximum efforts are underway to receive the Board’s approval in the first quarter of 2023.

The bailout was initially expected to be approved by the end of this year, however progress has been slow in recent months.