Gross Official Reserves to exceed US $ 5 billion

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 06 November 2009 approved the second tranche of SDR 206.7 million (approximately USD 329 million) under its 20-months Stand-by Arrangement (SBA) facility of SDR 1.65 billion (approximately USD 2.6 billion) to Sri Lanka. The Letter of Intent (LOI) and the Technical Memorandum of Understanding (TMU) in this regard is made available in the Central Bank of Sri Lanka web site (www.cbsl.gov.lk).

The gross official international reserves (without ACU balances) of the country, which has already exceeded US dollars 4.8 billion, will surpass US dollars 5 billion mark with the receipt of the USD 329 million.

With the renewed investor confidence on the Sri Lanka's economy and the continuation of the steady increase in foreign exchange inflows, the country's external reserves position is expected to strengthen further in the coming months.