The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced the completion of the second review under the 48-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) Arrangement, allowing Sri Lanka to draw SDR 254 million (approximately US$336 million).
This brings the total IMF financial support disbursed so far to SDR 762 million (about US$1 billion).
The Executive Board also concluded the 2024 Article IV Consultation with Sri Lanka.
In an official statement released earlier today, the IMF directors welcomed the progress in advancing debt restructuring to restore Sri Lanka’s debt sustainability. However, they called for the swift finalization of the Memorandum of Understanding with the Official Creditor Committee and final agreements with the Export-Import Bank of China.
The directors emphasized the importance of seeking comparable, transparent, and timely completion of restructurings with external private creditors in line with program targets.
Big trouble for the firebox
The owners of these establishments say that because of a type of lighter imported from foreign countries, the way to and from the local matchmaking establishments in this country has been lost.
They say that the four remaining matchbox manufacturing factories in Sri Lanka are under threat of closure due to the sale of inferior lighters imported from abroad at a very low price.
Environmentalists say that the plastic lighters imported in bulk from foreign countries burn with gas and throwing them away after the gas is exhausted will cause a lot of environmental pollution.
Many young people from low-income families are employed in the existing firebox factories in the Sri Lanka Investment Zone of Pallekele, Kandy.
Workers in local matchbox industry organizations and local industry protection organizations say that the spread of the trade in lighters imported from foreign countries in this country may cause the youth to lose their jobs.
