supporting the objectives of the IMF’s 2.9 Billion USD funding plan Sri Lanka’s President Anura Kumara Dissanayake confirmed “broad agreement”

INN/New Delhi, @Infodeaofficial

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake of Sri Lanka expressed his intention to decrease taxes on lower income people while reiterating his “broad agreement” with the goals of the IMF’s 2.9 billion USD financing program.

The visiting IMF delegation met with the Marxist leader on Thursday and Friday to discuss the current funding program. Mr. Dissanayake talked about “alternative means” to continue with a $2.9 billion bailout that helped his country after a sovereign crisis but enforced agonising austerity with Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka Peter Breuer and Director for Asia Pacific Krishna Srinivasan. But neither side provided information on the new plans. Experts predict that there won’t be much flexibility in the IMF agreement.

After winning the country’s presidential election on September 21, Mr. Dissanayake pledged to undo significant tax increases, increase the pay of public employees, and renegotiate the contentious bailout obtained by his predecessor, Ranil Wickremesinghe.