The International Monetary Fund has set 27 May 2026 as the date for its Executive Board to decide on the combined fifth and sixth reviews of Sri Lanka’s Extended Fund Facility programme, a decision that would unlock approximately USD 700 million in financing, NewsFirst reported on Sunday.
Approval of both reviews would make Sri Lanka eligible to draw the sixth and seventh tranches under the EFF arrangement. If the Board clears the reviews, it would be the largest single disbursement milestone in the programme since it launched in 2023.
IMF Communications Director Julie Kozack, who earlier this week described the Board meeting as expected “within weeks,” has cited several prior actions that must be completed before the programme is presented. These include restoring cost-recovery pricing for electricity and fuel while protecting vulnerable households, and completing the financing assurances review. Kozack declined to comment on the government’s Rs. 100 per litre diesel subsidy when asked specifically, but confirmed that cost-recovery reform remains a programme requirement.
The May 27 date converts a deliberately vague “within weeks” signal from 14 May into a firm watchdate for markets and policymakers. Sri Lanka’s staff-level agreement with the IMF was reached on 9 April, following the combined fifth and sixth review mission’s visit to Colombo amid what the Fund described as a dual-shock environment of Cyclone Ditwah and the ongoing Middle East conflict. Mission Chief Evan Papageorgiou had initially pointed to an early-June timeline for Board consideration when the staff-level agreement was announced.
A positive Board decision on May 27 would also represent a critical anchor for Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring negotiations, which the IMF has described as “nearing completion.”
Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe confirmed the May 27 date at a media briefing on the evening of May 18, telling reporters that around USD 700 million would be added to foreign reserves following the approval of the combined tranches. The Governor said a further approximately USD 250 million was expected to be received by July from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank under existing programmes, and that precautionary measures were in place to manage potential risks and keep reserves at a stable level. It was the first formal CBSL-level confirmation of both the Executive Board date and the July multilateral disbursement window.
