Sri Lanka is having some trouble getting a bailout from the international monetary fund that the country desperately needs.
The country is bankrupt.
The 22 million people who live there are battling rampant food inflation and severe fuel and medicine shortages. And now there’s more trouble involving a 2.9 Billion Dollar payout that’s supposed to come from the IMF. Colombo, the country’s most populated city, reached an agreement with the IMF in September which included conditions such as tax reforms and changes to the way electricity is priced.
But the package is still waiting on IMF board approval as Sri Lanka seeks financing assurances from its three biggest creditors- including China, the US, and Japan. A self-imposed December deadline for receiving approval from the IMF on releasing the bailout funds has now been pushed back to next year, according to the governor of Sri Lanka’s central bank.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka economy continues to suffer its worst-ever crisis since its independence.