Sri Lanka will press ahead with the ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme — criticised by sections for imposing painful austerity on ordinary people — despite the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah that struck the island nation in late November 2025.
Following President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s meeting with a visiting IMF delegation earlier this week, his office said that the Fund pointed to Sri Lanka moving “in the right economic direction despite facing a severe disaster situation” and stated that there would be “no changes to the agreement”, on the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme.
IMF approves $206 million emergency funding for cyclone-hit Sri Lanka's recovery
Cyclone Ditwah is the worst climate shock event the island has witnessed since the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. The torrential rains, record flooding, and multiple landslides have claimed at least 649 lives until now, while as many as 173 persons remain missing for two months. With huge losses to public infrastructure, homes, and livelihoods, the devastation is widely seen as a huge setback for a country getting out of a grave economic crisis that spiralled in 2022.
Also read | Cyclone Ditwah damage in Sri Lanka | The long path from wreckage to recovery
