COLOMBO, Sept 14: Sri Lanka’s Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake has told the International Monetary Fund the country will reduce its budget deficit to 4.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017 from this year’s 5.4 percent, his ministry said on Wednesday. “This year’s target will be 5.4 percent. It will be further reduced to 4.7 percent in 2017,” Karunanayake had told the IMF mission, his ministry said in a statement. The IMF mission is in Colombo for a review of a $1.5 billion loan approved for Sri Lanka to support the country’s economic reform agenda in June this year. The 2016 first half fiscal numbers released this week showed the government had performed better than expected, though economists said this year’s target would still be challenging. (AGENCIES)
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