
Any attempt to revisit Sri Lankas debt sustainability assessment (DSA) can derail the ongoing IMF programme bailout, the finance ministry said on Friday.Any country can of course stand its ground and refuse to move forward based on the IMFs DSA if it disagrees with the outcomes of the model and the IMFs assessment, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement titled Clarifications on Debt Restructuring and the Debt Sustainability Analysis.It added that a standoff in such a scenario would only delay an agreement on a financing programme for several months if not years.The statement highlighted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cannot proceed with a financing programme if a countrys debt is deemed unsustainable.The statement comes as the National Peoples Power (NPP) in its manifesto for the September 21 presidential election said last week that it would work for an alternative debt sustainability analysis and the Washington-based global lenders condition of revenue-based fiscal consolidation.The finance ministry statement asserted that Sri Lankas agreement with creditors for sovereign debt restructuring needed IMF endorsement to confirm as the independent actor that the negotiated terms indeed provide the required debt relief to comply with the debt targets.Source: PTI--Agencies