Sri Lanka’s federal Cabinet will meet Monday to decide whether or not to seek bailout funds from the International Monetary Fund as the nation struggles with limited options to address upcoming debt maturities.
The group of ministers will be joined by central bank Gov. Ajith Nivard Cabraal as well as Treasury Secretary Sajith Attygalle, according to environment minister Mahinda Amaraweera, whose Sri Lanka Freedom Party members have favored approaching the Washington-based lender. However, the idea is opposed by some members of other parties that make up the country’s ruling coalition.
"There is nothing wrong in going to the IMF,” Amaraweera said Wednesday, referring to the lender’s debt that usually comes with a series of fiscal, monetary and regulatory conditions that are seen by many as interfering with a country’s sovereign and economic interests. "We do not have to accept all the IMF conditions,” he said.