Cabinet approves $ 400 m World Bank facility to advance reform agenda

Wednesday, 18 February 2026 00:20 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Cabinet of Ministers on Monday approved obtaining a $ 400 million financial facility from the World Bank to support the country’s ongoing structural reform program under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The funding will be provided through a three-year Programmatic Reform Development Policy Operation (DPO) covering the 2026–2028 period.

“The facility is aimed at strengthening competitiveness, enhancing economic governance and promoting sustainable growth as the country continues its recovery trajectory,” Minister Vijitha Herath said at the weekly post-Cabinet meeting media briefing yesterday.

Sri Lanka has already received $ 700 million under the World Bank-funded Resilience, Stability and Economic Transformation (RESET) Development Policy Operation for 2023–2024. That support was directed at advancing fundamental reforms to restore macroeconomic stability and lay the groundwork for economic revival.

The newly approved $ 400 million program is structured around two main pillars: developing competitiveness and improving economic governance. It seeks to deepen structural reforms, enhance economic resilience and expand the country’s exposure to global markets while strengthening public financial management and institutional accountability.

Access to intermediate financing from multilateral development partners such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been identified as a critical component of the IMF-supported reform framework, helping to bridge financing gaps and sustain reform momentum.

The Government expects the program to reinforce macroeconomic stability, improve investor confidence and foster stronger, more sustainable economic growth over the medium term.

The proposal to obtain the facility was presented to the Cabinet by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in his capacity as Finance, Planning and Economic Development Minister and received approval.