IMF: Initial Sri Lanka market pressures seem contained, tourism action needed
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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday that initial financial market pressures on Sri Lanka appear contained following "horrific" Easter Sunday bomb attacks but decisive policy and security actions are needed to shore up the island's all-important tourism sector.
At least 321 people were killed and about 500 wounded in Sunday's attacks on churches and hotels.
"Initial financial market pressures seem to have been contained in the aftermath of the attacks," IMF Sri Lanka mission chief Manuela Goretti said in a statement issued in Washington. "Decisive policy and security measures by the authorities will be important, in particular for tourism, which accounts for five percent of GDP, to build on the strong performance of recent years."
The Sri Lankan stock index fell 2.6 percent on Tuesday on its first day of trading since the attacks, while the heavily managed rupee held steady at about 174.5 to the dollar.
Sri Lanka's 4.4-billion-U.S.-dollar tourism sector is the country's third largest and fastest-growing source of foreign currency, after remittances and garment exports.
 Stilt fishermen on a beach in Koggala, Sri Lanka. /VCG Photo

 Stilt fishermen on a beach in Koggala, Sri Lanka. /VCG Photo

Analysts say a tourism collapse would be a severe blow to Sri Lanka's economy and potentially force it to seek an increase in IMF funds.
The IMF last month agreed to extend its 1.5-billion-U.S.-dollar loan program for Sri Lanka for an extra year into 2020, a move that had bolstered the island's status as a top-performing frontier debt market this year. The IMF said its board in mid-May would take a final vote on the extension and fifth review of the loan program, which was launched in 2016.
The extra year would provide Sri Lankan authorities additional time to "anchor macroeconomic stability and complete their reform agenda," Goretti said, adding that the IMF was "deeply saddened by the horrific attacks in Sri Lanka" and "joins the international community in condemning these atrocious acts of terrorism."
"The 2019 budget approved in early April strikes a good balance between advancing revenue-based fiscal consolidation, which is important to shore up market confidence given Sri Lanka's high debt and refinancing needs, while making space for macro-critical capital and social spending and business-friendly tax measures," she said.
The statement did not identify specific actions that Sri Lankan authorities should take on security and restoring confidence in the tourism sector.
Source(s): Reuters