COPF reiterates commitment to provide bipartisan support to reforms proposed by IMF

 

The aim of the Committee on Public Finance (COPF), regardless of allegiances, will be to stand by the reforms promulgated by the IMF and being executed by the Central Bank, the committee’s chairman MP Harsha de Silva says.

His remark comes in the wake of a Central Bank confirmation that they are confident of having an actual IMF first tranche disbursement within the first quarter of 2023. The COPF has queried the severe social implications of such steep mechanisms to adhere to IMF conditions.

In response, the Central Bank has confirmed that the IMF is wary about the social impact on vulnerable communities and has invoked certain safeguards such as expenditure ceilings to negate those effects.

When questioned about the adverse effects of market contraction due to the stifling interest rates, the Central Bank has acknowledged that those measures have been taken to limit growth in order to prevent the need for greater foreign exchange given the dwindling amount currently in the country.