Business

CB chief sees negative fallouts from IMF deal

Published

4 years ago

2021/11/28

ECONOMYNEXT – Central Bank governor Nivard Cabraal said seeking International Monetary Fund (IMF) help to resolve a debt and forex crisis would lead to currency depreciation and sharply higher interest rates, trimming the public sector and privatization of state enterprises.

However several policy corrections, which are usually in IMF deals are already done, he said.

Sri Lanka has been downgraded to CCC by rating agencies indicating higher risk of default as the country printed money to keep rates in a “monetary stimulus” on top of “fiscal stimulus” and lost foreign reserves as the printed money was exchanged for dollar reserves to maintain the exchange rate.

Ministers of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s ruling SLPP coalition has discussed the possibility of the government seeking IMF assistance to resolve the external crisis as it became more difficult to import oil and other goods.

The party had come to power slamming the last administration for going to the IMF, which led to tax hikes.

“If we want, there is no problem going for the IMF. We had gone in 2009. So nobody should think that we hesitate or fear to go,” Cabraal said at a news briefing on Thursday.

“The IMF could tell us to depreciate the rupee, raise the interest rates by 30 percent, 40 percent, 50 percent further, reduce the number of government sector employees, reduce or curtail pension benefits, and sell various state assets.

“These are some conditions they include in their reform agenda.

“Our view is that we do not need that reform agenda at this juncture. Our view is that without going for that, we can pay back our creditors. Though we see some pressure during this time, we know that will ease in the time ahead.”

The last IMF program failed to impose sufficient controls on the central bank giving it enough room to print money under discretionary flexible inflation targeting and triggered a second currency crisis in 2018 within the program leading to an output shock.

It also failed to impose spending controls on the Treasury ‘under so-called revenue based fiscal consolidation’ sans ‘spending based consolidation’ leading to steep rise in government spending and an increase in state sector pension entitlements.

The currency fall which usually comes a under an IMF program leads to a fall in real wages, a consumption fall, higher unemployment and an economic slowdown – the inevitable consequence of monetary and fiscal excesses – which leads to unhappy voters if elections come before growth recovers.

Cabraal, however, said Sri Lanka itself has been already doing what the IMF might prescribe in a policy package.

“The issue is we need to face the debt problem,” Cabraal said. “The main reason for the debt problem is 6.9 billion US dollars had been borrowed as loans via sovereign bonds to this country from 2018 April to 2019 June. Those loans have put a lot of pressure on the country’s debt.”

“So we have decided to do away with that kind of borrowing and reduce them while using some other borrowing methods. That is what we are doing right now. This will be the same advice the IMF will give us. No other advice they will give.”

“Debt restructuring is basically you change from one instrument to another. This has been done with a deep thought and scientific manner. Since we are already doing it, we do not need external help to do that.”

He also said the government has already taken decisions to change maximum retail prices of commodities.

“In some instances, we have removed them which could be told by the IMF.”

The budget for 2022 had already frozen recruitment raised taxes on companies including turnover based taxes and there were no salary hike for state workers except for striking teachers.

However any IMF programme now is likely to require the float of the currency as a prior action to restore foreign exchange markets.

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Business

Sri Lanka rolls out digital signature framework to accelerate digital economy

Published

3 hours ago

2025/12/24

Sahan Weerasooriya

The LankaSign–eMudhra partnership brings together the strengths of LankaPay’s legally recognized digital signing certificates

Sri Lanka has launched a National Digital Signing Framework, a foundational initiative paving the way for paperless governance. This strategic move eliminates the need for physical signatures and documents in government transactions, aiming to dramatically enhance efficiency, transparency, and accessibility for citizens and businesses. An analyst said that this could accelerate Sri Lanka’s governance and commercial relationships with other countries as traditional signatures make room for digitally signed documents accepted by the government.

In this significant step toward accelerating Sri Lanka’s digital transformation, eMudhra, a global leader in digital identity and security solutions, has entered into a strategic partnership with LankaSign the only Certification Service Provider (CSP) in the country that complies with the Electronic Transactions Act No. 19 of 2006, operated by LankaPay, Sri Lanka’s national payment network during recently held inauguration of INFOTEL 2025 ICT exhibition at Sirimavo Bandaranaike Exhibition Hall.

The LankaSign–eMudhra partnership brings together the strengths of LankaPay’s legally recognized digital signing certificates issued via LankaSign – the pioneering digital Certification Service Provider in Sri Lanka established in 2009 – and eMudhra’s globally trusted emSigner platform, which has enabled secure digital document signing across more than 68 countries since 2008. Through this collaboration, Sri Lankan citizens and businesses will be able to experience a seamless, secure, and user-friendly digital signing solution, enabling documents to be signed anytime, anywhere using iOS, Android, or web-based applications.

This partnership with eMudhra aligns with the national agenda to promote adoption of digital documents, reduce dependency on paper-based processes, and facilitate a more efficient, transparent, and secure digital economy. This collaboration aims to support the government’s long-term digitalization roadmap by enabling a secure digital documentation layer essential for e-government services, digital finance, and digital transformation.

By Sanath Nanayakkare

Business

Dialog & University of Moratuwa launch open-source Sinhala Voice Model

Published

3 hours ago

2025/12/24

Sahan Weerasooriya

In a significant move to accelerate technological innovation in Sri Lanka, Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s #1 connectivity provider, and the Dialog-University of Moratuwa (UoM) Research Lab, has announced the release of SinhalaVITS, a state-of-the-art, open-source Text-to-Speech (TTS) model for the Sinhala language.

This non-commercial initiative delivers a powerful, high-quality, and natural-sounding Sinhala voice model to the public, making it freely accessible to developers, researchers, and students. The model is available for download on Hugging Face, the world’s largest open-source AI community, empowering anyone to build and experiment with advanced voice technology.

The SinhalaVITS model is the result of a deep-rooted collaboration that unites Dialog’s industry leadership with the academic excellence of the Dialog–UoM Mobile Communications Research Lab, fulfilling a vital need within Sri Lanka’s tech community for accessible, high-performance tools that drive innovation. By removing cost and licensing barriers tied to proprietary software, Dialog is empowering developers and researchers while fostering a more inclusive, collaborative, and future-ready AI ecosystem. This initiative further reinforces Dialog’s commitment to advancing Sri Lanka’s digital future—investing in open-source technology and academic partnerships to nurture local talent and lay the foundation for next-generation digital services built by Sri Lankans, for Sri Lankans.

Business

HNB signals ESG commitment with oversubscribed LKR 10 bn sustainable bonds

Published

3 hours ago

2025/12/24

Sahan Weerasooriya

The market opening ceremony conducted on the trading floor to mark the event

The Hatton National Bank PLC (HNB PLC) commemorated raising LKR 10 bn with its first ever issuance of sustainable bonds by way of a market opening ceremony conducted on the trading floor of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) last week.

The 9th December issuance of 100 mn listed, rated, unsecured senior sustainable bonds, in five year and seven-year tenors, with a par value of LKR 100/- and rated “AA-(lka)” By Fitch Ratings Lanka Limited, was oversubscribed on the same day, raising LKR 10 bn.

Sustainable bonds, which were launched in Sri Lanka for the first time this year, are part of a series of GSS+ (Green, Social, Sustainable & Sustainability Linked) debt instruments. The proceeds of the sustainable bond issuance will be used by HNB PLC to fund the development and installation of solar, wind, biomass and hydropower projects, improve energy efficiency through retrofits, fund the construction of recognized ‘green’ buildings, fund investment infrastructure for water treatment, water conservation and efficient agricultural water technologies, finance housing development, healthcare and education for low- and middle-income families, promote women entrepreneurship, amongst others initiatives.

Damith Pallewatte, Managing Director and CEO of HNB PLC, who was the ceremony’s keynote speaker remarked upon the issuance of sustainable bonds commenting: “HNB’s LKR 10 bn sustainable bond issuance is a landmark step in advancing Sri Lanka’s sustainability agenda.”

Delivering his welcome address at the event, Rajeeva Bandaranaike, CEO of CSE, remarked upon rising corporate engagement in CSE’s GSS+ debt instruments stating: “HNB’s Sustainable Bond represents a welcome new addition to the list of leading Sri Lankan financial instruments that have set the example for the success of CSE’s GSS+ Bond framework which have allowed the capital market to operate as a financing vehicle for sustainable and socially equitable projects.”