SRI LANKA GOVT BLOCKS PUBLICATION OF IMF PROGRAM REPORT

( International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde)

07/06/2016

ECONOMYNEXT – The International Monetary Fund has said that publication of its economic report on Sri Lanka after its 4th post-program monitoring mission last year has been withheld at the request of the government.

“The Sri Lankan authorities have indicated that more time is required to give consent to publish the staff report for the Fourth Post Program Monitoring Discussion,” the IMF said.

The comment came in a note acccompanying the statement on the IMF Executive Board’s approval of a three-year 1.5 billion US dollar loan for Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s central bank had earlier denied it had asked the IMF to withhold the post-program monitoring mission report.

The IMF concluded its 4th post-program monitoring mission in September 2015 and the report went to its board in December.

“In December there was no staff report that I am aware of,” Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran told reporters in April.

“Look, we are not consciously suppressing anything, I can tell you that much,” Governor Mahendran said.

The latest IMF statement said that on November 13, 2015, the Executive Board of the IMF concluded the Fourth Post-Program Monitoring (PPM) with Sri Lanka.

Post-Program Monitoring provides for closer monitoring (usually twice a year) of the circumstances and policies of members whose Fund-supported program has expired but that continue to have significant Fund credit outstanding, it said.

“It is intended to provide an early warning of policies which could call into question a member’s continued progress toward external viability and thus could imperil Fund resources, and a mechanism for bringing this to the attention of the country’s authorities and the Executive Board and stimulating action to improve the situation.”

(COLOMBO, June 06 2016)
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