The International Monetary Fund in Sri Lanka: a critical dialogue

Abstract

On 20 April 2001, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a US$253 million stand-by credit facility to Sri Lanka to stabilise the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals. The government should be commended for requesting the IMF to make the stand-by arrangement a public document, facilitating public scrutiny. However, there are some critical discrepancies in the statistical data presented in the IMF Country Report No. 01/71 compared with annual reports of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. These anomalies are highlighted with examples regarding defence expenditure, poverty reduction programmes, and public service recruitment.