Sri Lanka has surpassed its debt-to-GDP ratio target set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), despite the central bank missing its inflation target. The country’s central government debt-to-GDP ratio for 2024 is projected to be 98.7%, outperforming the IMF’s forecast of 108.8%, according to Harsha de Silva, Chairman of the Parliament’s Committee on Public Finance.
The central bank had set an inflation target of 5%, but failed to meet this target, even as it managed to maintain a stable exchange rate around 300 to the US dollar. Despite missing the inflation goal, the country experienced unexpected monetary stability, benefiting from improved economic performance, stable exchange rates, and lower-than-expected inflation.
In 2024, Sri Lanka restructured its sovereign debt, with the latest budget indicating a negative 3 trillion rupee in foreign financing. The IMF’s debt sustainability analysis (DSA) for the country will likely be revised in the new program set for approval in February 2028.