Sri Lanka’s Treasury has received a tranche of USD 695 million following the successful completion of the 5th and 6th reviews of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, Deputy Minister of Finance Anil Jayantha Fernando confirmed.
The IMF Executive Board approved the reviews at its meeting held on May 27. With the latest tranche, total IMF financial support disbursed to Sri Lanka under the programme has reached approximately US$2.4 billion.
In a recent statement announcing the approval for the disbursement of funds, the IMF said Sri Lanka’s performance under the reform programme remained “generally strong”, despite global and domestic challenges, including the war in the Middle East and the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah.
The IMF noted that Sri Lanka had met all end-December 2025 quantitative performance criteria, while most structural benchmarks had either been achieved or implemented with delays.
The fund also confirmed that prior actions related to restoring fuel and electricity cost-recovery pricing had been completed.
The IMF projects Sri Lanka’s economic growth to slow to 3% in 2026, down from 5% in 2025, mainly due to global uncertainties and rising oil prices linked to the Middle East conflict.
Inflation is expected to rise to 5% in 2026, while the current account balance is projected to return to a deficit.
The IMF said fiscal easing in 2026 was appropriate in response to economic shocks, including recovery spending following Cyclone Ditwah, but stressed that Sri Lanka must return to its fiscal targets from 2027 onwards. (Newswire)