• Sri Lanka will be removed from the IMF's surcharge list starting November 1, 2024, due to reforms that raise the threshold for surcharges from 187.5% to 300% of a country's quota, significantly reducing its borrowing costs. 

Sri Lanka will be removed from the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) surcharge list starting November 1, 2024, as part of the IMF’s recent reforms to reduce borrowing costs while ensuring its financial capacity to support member countries. These reforms raise the threshold for surcharges from 187.5% to 300% of a country’s IMF quota. Sri Lanka, along with seven other nations, will no longer be subject to these surcharges, which add two to three percentage points to regular IMF loan rates. This change will significantly ease Sri Lanka’s debt burden, as it was previously expected to pay $308 million in surcharges over the next decade.

Prior to the reforms, Sri Lanka had joined 22 heavily indebted countries subject to these additional fees. So far in 2024, the country has already paid $1.46 million in surcharges on top of $73.2 million in other IMF charges. With its credit outstanding at 331.3% of its quota, Sri Lanka was on track to continue paying these fees, but the new reforms will offer relief by lowering the number of countries subject to surcharges from 19 to 11.

SL set to be removed from IMF’s surcharge list of countries from November | Daily Mirror