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Message: <blockquote data-quote="lkdood" data-source="post: 5221658" data-attributes="member: 92282">Sri Lanka has authorized the International Monetary Fund to publish its stand by loan agreement with the island, after it is approved by the lender's executive board Friday, international trade minister Gamini Pieris said. Under the new stand by arrangement Sri Lanka's central bank will have access to 2.5 billion US dollars which will be disbursed over 20 months in eight installments of 312 million US dollars, Pieris said. The final installment would be on March 15, 2011. "The government of Sri Lanka has authorized the IMF to put in to the public domain all documentation in this regard," Pieris told reporters Thursday. "So from tomorrow onwards it will be apparent to everybody that there is no conditionality which is anyway harmful to the country and that it provides a very strong impetus to the development of the nation." An annual bill of health on Sri Lanka's economy following the so-called 'Article IV' consultations in 2008, has not yet been published. Economists have charged that authorities have suppressed the document. A press release was issued by the IMF in early November 2008 following the preparation of the report and with extracts from comments of its organization's executive board. In previous years the full report had followed shortly after. At the time IMF warned Sri Lanka to abandon a dollar peg that was driving down foreign reserves. Information considered to be market sensitive can still be deleted. Nothing Serious Pieris said the deal does not have "any conditionality that is inconsistent" with the economic vision of the ruling administration. "Of course there are decisions that we have taken in our own interest - voluntary decisions- which the government of Sri Lanka has taken," he said. "Apart from that there is nothing in conflict with the goals and objectives of the government of Sri Lanka." Sri Lanka has committed to a tight 7.0 percent gross domestic product budget deficit, which will require substantial tightening, as the administration has already run a 4.0 percent deficit in the first four months. Economists have urged the government to be more fiscally responsible, so that ordinary people could go about their work in a country that has a stable economy with low inflation and low interest rates. Sri Lanka's central bank brought inflation down to 0.9 percent in June following tight monetary policy. Pieris said there were growing signs that domestic economic activity was picking up, with the fishery sector in the north and east opening up after the defeat of Tamil Tiger separatists in May allowed security to be loosened. Yesterday state-run buses came down the 'A-9' highway connecting the northern Jaffna peninsular to the south of the country. Pieris said the economy was expected to expand faster than originally thought. Sri Lanka's central bank has forecast a growth of around 3.5 to 4.5 percent after the end of the war, from a worst case scenario of 2.5 percent. "We are confident that at the end of the year Sri Lanka's economy will grow by about 5.0 percent," he said. Pieris said tea, rubber and cinnamon prices were moving up, and there were signs that apparel exports would turn around.<a href="http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/fullstory.php?nid=2094911796" target="_blank">LBO</a></blockquote>

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