The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce on Thursday welcomed the IMF Executive Board’s completion of Sri Lanka’s combined fifth and sixth Extended Fund Facility reviews and urged the government to sustain reform momentum amid heightened global uncertainty.
The Chamber said the milestone enables Sri Lanka to access approximately US$695 million in financing support and reinforces confidence in the country’s recovery and reform agenda. At a time of “heightened global uncertainty and external sector pressures arising from the conflict in the Middle East”, it said, the approval sends “a strong positive signal” to markets, investors and the private sector.
Continued engagement with the programme remains critical to preserving macroeconomic stability, restoring investor confidence and strengthening external resilience, the statement said. The Chamber added that the review underscores the importance of sustaining structural reforms across the investment climate, public financial management, electricity sector restructuring and revenue mobilisation — the same priorities flagged by IMF Mission Chief Evan Papageorgiou in his post-Board statement.
The Chamber’s intervention is the most prominent private-sector reaction since the Board cleared the disbursement, following pre-Board confidence framings around exchange rate flexibility and external buffers.
It comes against a fragile macro backdrop. The rupee has weakened sharply this week and CPC has said no fuel price reduction is expected before September, citing oil prices still well above pre-war levels. The chamber argued that sustained reform implementation will help Sri Lanka cushion these external shocks and preserve the gains delivered under the programme.
In a follow-up statement carried by Newswire on Sunday, the Chamber said reform priorities should be coupled with clear and consistent communication on economic policy to bolster market confidence, and with continued strengthening of the fuel QR system for more efficient and targeted relief while maintaining cost-reflective pricing. It also flagged accelerated reform in trade, investment, tourism, logistics and digitalisation as central to building external resilience.
Sources: Ada Derana · Newswire.
