The International Monetary Fund has rejected suggestions that Sri Lanka’s main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya was shut out of parliamentary engagement with its mission, saying invitations to the briefing went out to every political party through the office of the Speaker.
IMF Mission Chief Evan Papageorgiou, speaking at a Colombo press conference on Thursday, said the IMF team had used “inclusive political engagement” as a guiding principle during the combined fifth and sixth review and that all parties and their leaders had been invited to the discussions. He described the tone of the parliamentary meeting as “constructive and thoughtful” and said MPs had raised issues including fuel rationing design, fiscal consolidation pace, under-execution of capital spending and anti-corruption priorities.
The clarification came after the SJB had raised a complaint that party representatives were absent from the parliamentary IMF discussions held in connection with the review conclusion. Papageorgiou’s statement indicates the IMF considers the arrangement of the session to have been a matter handled by the Speaker’s office rather than by the Fund itself.
The dispute is the latest in a running tension between the SJB and the NPP-led government over access to the IMF process. Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa this week demanded a revised IMF programme accounting for the Middle East conflict and has criticised both the relief package and the fuel price trajectory. The IMF on Thursday announced a staff-level agreement on the combined fifth and sixth reviews, unlocking roughly $700 million subject to Executive Board approval.
