Answering a question raised by a journalist at the media briefing on Wednesday 27 he said Sri Lanka is still to fulfill some of the important commitments under the reform programme and it will take some time for the authorities to achieve it.

Executive Board approval of the first program review requires the completion of financing assurances reviews.

These financing assurances reviews will focus on whether adequate progress has been made with debt restructuring to give confidence that it will be concluded in a timely manner and in line with the program’s debt targets he pointed out. .

“Discussions are on-going, and the authorities are continuing to make progress on their plans for revenue mobilization targets, anti-corruption efforts, and other important structural reforms he added.

He noted that there was no no fixed timeframe on the disbursement of second tranche as it needs the approval of the executive board. .

Sri Lanka’s government revenue is set to decline by 15 percent from the target agreed with the IMF, he claimed adding that this may be due to weak revenue collection due to poor tax administration.

This could weaken the government’s ability to provide essential public services; and undermine the path to debt sustainability, he said adding that it is important to strengthen tax administration, remove tax exemptions, and actively eliminate tax evasion to increase revenues and signal better governance.