SL to regain access to international financial and capital markets next year in line with IMF projections

Sri Lanka is on course to regain access to international financial and capital markets around 2027, in line with the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) current economic projections, IMF Mission Chief Evan Papageorgiou said yesterday.

Papageorgiou said the IMF’s core assumptions under Sri Lanka’s economic programme continued to envisage the country returning to international capital markets in 2027.

“Our previous assumption that Sri Lanka will go back to capital markets still stands. We still have a good trajectory to achieving this in 2027 or thereabouts, and that should be the goal,” he said.

Papageorgiou stressed that Sri Lanka could not rely solely on domestic sources of financing to build long-term economic resilience and would need a diversified funding strategy.

“Every country needs to have a good ability to access funds both in domestic markets, as it already has, as well as international markets for eurobonds and other modes,” he said.

He said a return to international capital markets would have significant implications for Sri Lanka’s external debt composition, while strengthening foreign exchange reserves would remain essential as the country prepares to meet future debt-servicing obligations.

The IMF’s assessment comes amid improving international investor sentiment towards Sri Lanka and positive developments in the country’s sovereign credit ratings.

Papageorgiou cited Fitch’s recent upgrade of Sri Lanka’s credit rating as a positive development, saying global investors were increasingly viewing the country from a more constructive perspective.

Sri Lanka remains under the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme, which is scheduled to continue until March 20, 2027. Regaining access to international capital markets remains a key milestone under the country’s broader economic recovery.

The IMF has stressed the importance of rebuilding Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange buffers and maintaining stability in domestic financial markets as the country approaches substantial external debt repayments.

A sustained improvement in these areas would help strengthen the country’s capacity to return to international markets while safeguarding macroeconomic stability, the IMF has indicated.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday (23) handed over appointment letters to three Special Grade officers of the Judicial Service as High Court Judges, at a ceremony held at the Presidential Secretariat, according to the President’s Media Division (PMD).

The new appointees are Perumal Sivakumar, District Judge of Jaffna; Anandi Kanagaratnam, Senior Assistant Secretary of the Judicial Service Commission; and Gnanesha Lalith Kannangara, District Judge of Colombo.

The three senior Judicial Service officers will take up duties as High Court Judges following their appointments.

The appointments were made from among Special Grade officers of the Judicial Service, the PMD said.

The Catholic Church has welcomed the court verdict against those convicted in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, while stressing that the judgment should not mark the end of efforts to uncover the full circumstances surrounding the bombings.

Speaking to reporters, Director of Mass Communications of the Archdiocese of Colombo Rev. Fr. Jude Krishantha Fernando said the Church was satisfied that a verdict had been delivered after victims and their families had waited for years for justice.

He said the judgment would also send a strong message against religious extremism, emphasising that religion must never be distorted or used to justify violence.

However, Fr. Krishantha said those convicted represented only one aspect of the broader case and called for investigations to continue into whether others had been involved in facilitating the attacks or had enabled them to take place.

He alleged that intelligence and security officials had received sufficient information that could have helped prevent the attacks but failed to act. He called for further investigations to establish whether there had been any wider involvement or motive behind such failures.

Previous official inquiries have examined the handling of intelligence received ahead of the attacks, while the Supreme Court has also delivered judgments on fundamental rights petitions relating to alleged failures by senior officials.

Fr. Krishantha further called for legal action, where supported by evidence, against individuals identified through previous investigations and commission recommendations.

He said the Church would consider the justice process complete only when all those responsible for the attacks, as well as any individuals found responsible for related failures, had been properly investigated and dealt with according to the law.

The Catholic Church has consistently called for investigations to determine whether additional individuals were involved in the Easter Sunday attacks and for those found responsible to be prosecuted.