World Bank’s Regional Vice President for South Asia has commended the progress on fiscal, financial and economic governance reforms achieved by Sri Lanka thus far.

On the sidelines of the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group in Washington DC, the Sri Lankan delegation led by Finance State Minister Shehan Semasinghe, Treasury Secretary Mahinda Siriwardana and Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe held talks with senior officials of international financial institutions and foreign countries.

During the meeting with World Bank’s Vice President for South Asia Martin Raiser, the reforms initiated by Sri Lanka, the cooperation on transforming to a digital economy and the progress of the targeted social safety net were taken up for discussion.

Raiser, taking to Twitter, said increased transparency is crucial for reforms to succeed, including the critical social protection reform that aims to protect vulnerable people.

Further, the two sides have discussed the development of renewable energy and digital economy, and supporting export-oriented small- and medium-scale businesses.

The World Bank official said he is delighted to see Sri Lanka’s progress on fiscal, financial and economic governance reforms.

Noting the efforts need to be continued in order to fully recover the island nation’s economy, Raiser reiterated the support of the World Bank Group with ideas and financing.

The Sri Lankan delegation also met with the Assistant Secretaries of the US State Department, namely Donald Lu and Ramin Toloui, to discuss the matters of mutual interest, the commitment of the US for the island’s economic recovery and the reform process.

Further, State Minister Semasinghe has had a productive meeting with IMF Deputy Managing Director Kenji Okumura, who appreciated the commitment of the Sri Lankan government.

They have discussed the way forward to meet the first review targets while remaining committed to completing the debt treatment negotiations as fast as possible.