Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has commended the progress Sri Lanka has made thus far with regard to the resolutions under their agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Speaking at the IMF – World Bank meet on India’s Group of 20 (G20) presidency, particularly in response to a question raised regarding the concerns pertaining to the G20 common framework for debt restructuring and claims that progress made under this framework is ‘too slow’, Sitharaman explained that albeit Sri Lanka having been categorised as a middle-income country, it was later on the verge of being graded a low-income country when the economic crisis came about, and thus, it could not be addressed by the common framework.

“The crisis could not be addressed by the common framework because it was a middle-income country, it couldn’t qualify to be addressed within the common framework it was outside”, she explained.

The Finance Minister noted, however, that when compared to many other countries the speed with which Sri Lanka is getting its resolutions through the IMF is “very good”, and “ speedy compared to the common framework”.

Speaking further in this regard, Sitharaman noted that today, many financial institutions, including the IMF, have realized the need for such processes to be speedier.

Emphasisng the value of Sri Lanka’s progress with regards to the IMF agreement and its resolutions, Sitharaman highlighted that the very formation of the creditor committee through a sovereign debt roundtable, which the IMF established together with the World Bank under the India presidency to address the issue of Sri Lanka’s debt crisis, is one that is likely to be used as a template for any other country in the future.

Albeit agreeing to the fact that the process, could, in fact, be speedier, Sitharaman said “It is moving as per the formula and speedily, it can be speedier, that’s a different story, but the fact is at the moment it is very speedily”.