President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told Parliament on Tuesday that Sri Lanka will sign the staff-level agreement for the combined fifth and sixth reviews of its International Monetary Fund Extended Fund Facility on Thursday (9 April), with the resulting $700 million disbursement expected before the end of May.
“We have had very productive discussions with the International Monetary Fund, and we are aiming to sign a staff-level agreement by Thursday,” Dissanayake told the House. “Typically, discussions are held here, and we must travel abroad to sign the agreement. However, this time there is preparedness to sign it locally. If so, both the fifth and sixth tranches will be disbursed together, enabling us to receive approximately $700 million before the end of May.”
Signing a staff-level agreement inside Sri Lanka is unusual and signals unusually close alignment between the government and the IMF mission on review conditions.
The President also told Parliament that the Asian Development Bank has agreed to release $1.2 billion in assistance during 2026 and that the World Bank is preparing additional financial support. He said the inflows would help offset a near-term decline in foreign reserves driven by scheduled debt repayments and the Middle East supply shocks feeding into higher import costs.
Dissanayake acknowledged that the rupee had depreciated slightly in recent weeks but said the decline had been modest relative to other regional currencies. He said import spending had climbed during the Avurudu festive season but was expected to ease after 10 April, with another rise likely around mid-May.
The announcement comes as State Minister of Finance Eran Wickramaratne leads the Sri Lankan delegation to the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington (April 13–18) and as the economy continues to absorb the dual shock of Middle East energy disruption and United States tariff pressure.
