Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what most recent assessment she has made of the political and security situation in Sri Lanka.

We continue to closely monitor the political, economic and security situation in Sri Lanka. The economic situation remains challenging, as inflation continues to increase, and there continues to be shortages of key goods. We welcome the news that the new Government of Sri Lanka has reached staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund. This is a positive and important first step to help the country of Sri Lanka recover.

We are in regular high level contact with the new Sri Lankan government on these issues, as well as others of mutual interest.