Sri Lanka likely to sign bilateral debt agreements on Wednesday, foreign minister says

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka was expecting to sign the bilateral debt restructuring agreements with key creditors Japan and India on Wednesday, Foreign Ministry Ali Sabry told Reuters on Tuesday.

Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe provided a verbal update on debt restructuring progress to members of the cabinet at a meeting held late on Monday, Sabry said on phone.

“The president said the bilateral agreements will most probably be signed tomorrow (Wednesday),” Sabry added.

“The parameters of the debt restructuring was submitted to cabinet earlier.” The South Asian island nation defaulted on its foreign debt in May 2022 after its economy was driven to the brink by a severe fall in foreign exchange reserves.

IMF pushes Sri Lanka to clinch debt deal with China

Sri Lanka reached a provisional agreement in November with the Official Creditor Committee (OCC), co-chaired by Japan, France and India in a key step to its economic recovery, which has been aided by a $2.9 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

While approving the second review of Sri Lanka’s bailout programme earlier this month, the IMF had called for a swift finalisation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the OCC and final agreements with the Export-Import Bank of China.