The International Monetary Fund expects Sri Lanka to raise US$3 billion through international sovereign bond issues by 2028, but the decision on whether to return to global capital markets rests with the government, Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando told Parliament on Thursday.
The combined fifth and sixth review reports under the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility assume no sovereign bond issue in 2026, US$1.5 billion in each of 2027 and 2028, and none in 2029, the Daily FT reported.
Dr. Fernando said those figures are the Fund’s own assumptions rather than projections by Sri Lankan authorities, and that the government takes decisions on bond issues from time to time after assessing prevailing conditions.
Short-term foreign exchange obligations
Beyond future borrowing, the Deputy Minister set out the state’s nearer-term currency commitments. Outstanding currency swap arrangements stood at US$4.1 billion as at end-May 2026, comprising US$1.8 billion international and US$2.3 billion domestic, Hiru News reported.
All but about US$83 million of the domestic swaps fall due within 12 months.
The Public Debt Management Office is strengthening the legal framework for reducing risk in the government’s debt portfolio and continuously evaluates market conditions, he said.
Both outlets reported the same figures for the bond assumptions and the swap totals. An international bond issue on the scale the Fund assumes would mark a return to commercial borrowing on global markets; the Deputy Minister’s statement stops short of committing to one in any particular year.