President Ranil Wickramasinghe says that the government expects to receive India’s response regarding Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring at the end of this month leading to US$2.9 billion IMF bail out loan approval by the first quarter of this year.
The President stated that the negotiations with China regarding debt restructuring have recommenced.
The President revealed this during a discussion held today (06) with newspaper editors and electronic media news directors at the Presidential Secretariat.
In the discussion held, the President further stated that the government expects the extended fund facility of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to be received in the first half of this year.
This completely rubbishes Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe’s fictitious predictions of International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) approval for the US $ 2.9 billion bail out loan in January 2023.
Sri Lanka has already missed the Central Bank Governor’s December 2022 deadline exposing his attempt to melead the nation, severl eminet economic experts said adding that as a responsible official he should watch his tongue.
Central Bank Governor Nandalal e told a media conference recently if Sri Lanka misses the board approval in December it plans to appear before the IMF Board in January 2023 and is optimistic that it would shortly receive assurance from bilateral creditors including China and India.
The President mentioned that India will announce its response regarding Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring before the end of this month, and another round of discussions with China regarding debt restructuring has started these days and those discussions will also be concluded effectively.
Mr. Wickramasinghe said that there has been no request to China to write off the loans given to Sri Lanka, but that they have requested to be given time to repay the loans within a period of 20 years.The President also mentioned that it is expected that there will be a good response from China.
The President also said that after receiving the extended credit facility from the International Monetary Fund, international financial institutions including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have already responded positively to the financial support provided to Sri Lanka.
President Ranil Wickramasinghe says that the government expects to receive India’s response regarding the country’s debt restructuring at the end of this month. The President mentioned that he has restarted negotiations with China regarding debt restructuring.
Peter Breuer, Senior IMF Mission Chief for Sri Lanka noted that the initial disbursement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) is available at board approval, which is contingent on the implementation of prior actions by the authorities and the progress with discussions with creditors on restoring debt sustainability.
