Sri Lanka No Longer Subject to IMF Surcharges Under New Rules

COLOMBO (News 1st); The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced significant reforms to its surcharge policy, which will benefit several low-income and vulnerable middle-income countries, including Sri Lanka. 

Loans provided to low-income countries under the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) and the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) do not incur surcharges. These trusts help countries build resilience to external shocks and ensure sustainable growth.

Currently, 19 out of 52 member countries borrowing from the IMF’s General Resources Account (GRA) are subject to surcharges.

However, with the new reforms effective from November 1, 2024, this number will decrease to 11. 

Sri Lanka, along with Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Georgia, Moldova, Senegal, and Suriname, will no longer be subject to surcharges as their credit outstanding will fall below the new threshold of 300 percent of their IMF quota.

For the fiscal year 2026, it was projected that 20 countries would have been subject to surcharges prior to this review. With the approved reforms, the number of countries paying surcharges is expected to drop to 13.

These changes are part of the IMF’s efforts to reduce borrowing costs while maintaining its financial capacity to support member countries.