SL Prez: Will discuss debt restructuring with India, China, Paris Club separately

Colombo, April 26

Sri Lanka will negotiate debt restructuring with India, China and the Paris Club separately, as part of an IMF-backed plan to reduce and manage the island nation’s debt, President Ranil Wickremsinghe told lawmakers on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka is considering restructuring its local debt parallelly with its external debt, Wickremesinghe told Parliament as the country grapples with its worst economic crisis.

Asserting that Sri Lanka needs to restructure its debt, Wickremesinghe, who is also the finance minister, said, “Sri Lanka’s total debt is USD 83.6 billion. Foreign debt amounts to USD 41.5 billion, domestic debt amounts to USD 42 billion.” Sri Lanka secured a USD 2.9 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last month to tackle its huge debt burden.

The Washington-based global lender had made Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring a prerequisite for granting the USD 2.9 billion bailout.