Sri Lanka to get 400m dollar from IFC for essential imports
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank's investment arm, said it will deliver Sri Lanka a 400 million US dollar cross-currency swap facility to help fund essential imports.
Three private banks, which together deal with over 30% of Sri Lanka's remittances and exports, will receive the facility to fund essential imports, including medicine, food and fertiliser, the International Finance Corporation said in a statement on Monday.
The funds will provide a much needed foreign exchange cushion for Sri Lanka, which is grappling with its worst financial crisis in over seven decades partly triggered by a severe shortage of dollars.
The island nation's economy is estimated to have contracted by 9.2% in 2022 and is expected to shrink a further 4.2% in 2023, according to World Bank data.
Sri Lanka signed a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a 2.9 billion dollar bailout last September but has to put its debt on a sustainable repayment track before the funds can be disbursed.
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