Advisory group to assist with Sri Lanka’s IMF talks

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has appointed a three-member advisory group to assist government officials engaging with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the president said, as the island nation looks to get through a severe economic crisis.

The responsibilities of the group “of economic and fiscal experts” include providing guidance that will address the present debt crisis, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said in a statement

Sri Lanka’s rupee has plunged to a record low to become the world’s worst-performing currency, as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa struggles to contain a worsening economic and political crisis, according to The Financial Times.

The Sri Lankan rupee was hovering near SLRs300 per US dollar on Wednesday, down 32 per cent year to date and lagging even Russia’s rouble, after Rajapaksa ended emergency rule just days after it was imposed.

Sri Lanka is facing a foreign exchange crisis as its government grapples with looming debt payments, widespread protests and an economic emergency.