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Sri Lanka targeting USD 1 billion for foreign reserves
22 Apr, 2022
Sri Lanka is targeting USD 1 billion as foreign reserves to help stabilise the Sri Lanka Rupee.
Finance Minister Ali Sabry said that the Government is negotiating with a number of countries to secure a total of USD 1 billion to give the Sri Lanka Central Bank as foreign reserves.
Speaking to reporters today, Ali Sabry said that Sri Lanka is looking at short and long term solutions to address the crisis.
He said that the program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will take time.
The Minister asserted that he was not in Washington just to seek a Rapid Financial Programe (RFI) with the IMF but to reach an agreement on a funding program with the IMF.
“We have three strategies. Immediate is to get emergency funding. Second is to get bridge financing. Thirdly to go back to the growth trajectory,” he said.
In the?short term, Sri Lanka is looking at extending a Credit Line with India and has also sought a grace period to pay the Asian Clearing Union.
The Minister said that Sri Lanka has also reached an agreement with the World Bank to make use of USD 300-600 million for medicine, gas and fertilizer.
Sri Lanka is also looking at expediting projects funded by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the UNDP in order to obtain much needed US Dollars.
Ali Sabry said that Sri Lanka is also looking at drawing investments in certain key sectors like sustainable energy.
The Minister appealed to the public not to play politics with the crisis as if the banking sector collapses that could result in a serious crisis. (Colombo Gazette)
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