Sri Lanka has sought technical support from the International Monetary Fund and a mission is likely to arrive, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa said.
“We have not officially done anything,” he told reporters at a forum in Colombo when asked whether a decision has been made to go for an IMF program.
“But we have written to them and sought specialist advice from them. The IMF is an international institution set up to give advice to countries that are going through crisis situations.
“We also need funds. We have sought funds from Japan.
“The IMF will give us advice about things that we do not know. Whether we take the advice is another matter. Before we go we need to know what they give. Before we go to any bank to get housing loan also we need to know.”
Sri Lanka officials have previously said they had the IMF as an option but was trying other methods to solve the external problem as Washington based lender would request a currency depreciation and spending cuts.
Several cabinet ministers have said publicly that Sri Lanka should consider going for an International Monetary Fund program as forex shortages disrupted supplies of various goods.
There has been a softening of attitude towards the IMF among ruling party politicians in recent. Minister Dullas Alahapperuma last months said IMF should not be demonized as it had helped the country in the past.
The matter had been discussed at the cabinet on several occasions.
Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves have fallen sharply due to liquidity injections made to keep interest rates down as economic activity recovered.
Sri Lanka’s imports are soaring amid a large budget deficit and recovering private credit.