Attention of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) has been drawn over the media reports on Government debt recording and maintenance of accounts published on 8th February 2018. 

CBSL compiles and publishes Central Government debt based on its database on issuance of domestic debt and international commercial borrowings on behalf of the Government and also the information it receives from the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and External Resources Department (ERD) of the Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs. CBSL regularly and closely coordinates with MoF and ERD towards the accuracy of its published debt statistics and in this connection it also has the accessibility to the debt recording system maintained by ERD. Further, in compilation and servicing of Central Government debt, CBSL uses its own recording systems with respect to domestic and international commercial borrowings. Central Government debt so compiled by CBSL has been reviewed and accepted by international agencies including the International Monetary Fund.

The external sector performance in November 2017 was supported by continued inflows to the financial account of the Balance of Payments (BOP) mainly with higher foreign inflows to the government securities market, and marginally improved earnings from tourism. Although a double-digit growth in exports has been recorded, partly driven by the low base recorded in November 2016, the trade deficit expanded considerably during the month with higher imports. Meanwhile, workers’ remittances continued to decline, owing to adverse economic and geopolitical conditions prevailing in the Middle Eastern region. Accordingly, the BOP recorded an overall surplus of around US dollars 2.0 billion by end November 2017. Gross official reserves also increased to US dollars 7.3 billion (equivalent to 4.2 months of imports) by end November 2017 from US dollars 6.0 billion recorded at end 2016.

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