The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank will give technical assistance to Sri Lanka to strengthen its financial system under 13 points, Finance Ministry sources told the Sunday Observer yesterday.
Officials of the two global institutions agreed to support fortifying the country’s financial system under 13 points during the debt restructuring and economic stabilisation discussions with the President’s Chief of Staff Sagala Ratnayake at the President’s Secretariat recently, the sources said.
IMF and World Bank officials had participated in the discussions at President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s request as the Finance Minister.
They also promised Rathnayaka to offer technical support in preparing the Budget proposals related to debt restructuring. The IMF and the World Bank will provide technical support to increase the transparency of the country’s financial system and overall financial management. They will help check corruption vulnerabilities by improving fiscal transparency and public financial management, creating transparency in the Government’s procurement process and cost management, eliminating fraud and corruption, and reducing the number of Government institutions that depend on the money given by the Central Bank. They will assist in reducing risks in the Government institutions systems, cost-recovery and clearing obstacles to foreign investments in Sri Lanka.