According to government sources, a decision on whether to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for seeking an assistant for current foreign reserves crisis or not will be taken at a cabinet meeting scheduled to be held on Monday (13).
There are two views within the government on going to the International Monetary Fund, and some in the government are of the opinion that going to the International Monetary Fund should be the immediate solution to the dollar deficit. Others are of the opinion that going to the International Monetary Fund will lead to various conditions.
According to government sources, a final decision will be taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa tomorrow.
The Governor of the Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal and the Secretary to the Ministry of Finance Dr. SR Attygalle have also been summoned to the Cabinet meeting on Minday to brief the Cabinet on the economic and financial condition of the country.
The country’s foreign exchange reserves have fallen to about US $ 1.500 Billion, of which US $ 1,100 million is remain as dollars, Minister of State for Finance Shehan Semasinghe told Parliament last Thursday.
Economists point out that this dollar will be enough for about two weeks, given the cost of imports from Sri Lanka.
