In the labyrinth of political paradoxes, Dr. Harsha De Silva emerges as a tragic Shakespearean figure, seemingly ensnared by the very system he once sought to reform. A learned individual, esteemed by many, Dr. De Silva appears to be following a path trodden by many politicians, a path woven with inconsistencies and shifts in stance, often at odds with previous advocacies.
Machiavelli, in his seminal work, “The Prince,” opines, “The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.” This notion seems tragically pertinent to Dr. De Silva, who, despite his erudition, seems to be relegated to the typical political manoeuvring characteristic of many Sri Lankan politicians.
Sri Lanka has long suffered from political vacillation, where policies pivot not on the axis of national interest, but often, on a pendulum of political rivalry. The propensity of politicians to alter national policies seemingly out of spite has been a recurrent impediment to foreign direct investment (FDI) and investment promotion, affecting the economic trajectory of the nation since its independence. Such oscillations between support and opposition are symptomatic of the transient nature of political alliances and the perceived amnesia of the electorate. It illustrates Machiavelli’s assertion that “the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities.”
Dr. De Silva, revered for his professional acumen, was expected to transcend such petty political machinations. The populace anticipated a deviation from such transient politicking, a hope rooted in the desire to see professionals like him bring change and stability to Parliament. Yet, the tragedy lies in his seeming transformation into the archetypal politician, as his stance on projects like the port city project appears to sway with his political alignment.
Instances from his career, unmarked by significant accomplishments, seemingly attest to this transformation. The only accolade he has to boast about is the ambulance system available in Sri Lanka which we all thank him for .other than that his career is nothing but “unremarkable”.
He once championed the port city project, extolling its virtues on global platforms during his ministerial tenure. Yet, his current opposition to the same project, terming it a pipe dream,marks a stark divergence from his earlier advocacies.
This shifting stance reflects Machiavelli’s acknowledgment of the volatility and impermanence of political landscapes and allegiances, epitomizing the tragic struggle between idealism and pragmatism. It embodies Machiavelli’s notion that “Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.”
Dr. De Silva’s trajectory seems to resonate with a greater political malaise, where the fluidity of political beliefs and the pursuit of power overshadow steadfast commitment to reform and national development. It serves as a stark reminder of the ephemeral nature of political convictions and the enduring conflict between professional integrity and political expediency.
This transformation of Dr. De Silva echoes a somber, timeless truth, illuminated by both Shakespeare and Machiavelli: the relentless and often futile pursuit of power and idealism in the tumultuous arena of politics, where convictions are as mutable as the winds, and the essence of one’s beliefs is often lost in the turbulent seas of political rivalry and ambition.
In the tragic dance of politics and power, we find ourselves lamenting, “Oh, where have all the steadfast guardians gone?” Where are the soldiers of integrity and bearers of unwavering convictions in the ever-shifting sands of political landscapes?
Are they all puppets now dancing to a geographical master ? One never knows.
Colombo (LNW): Two persons were reportedly killed and three were injured in a road accident in Galewela area this (24) morning, Police said.
According to reports, a three-wheeler collided with a private passenger bus in the Beligamuwa area, Galewela on the Dambulla – Kurunegala main road this morning.
The injured who are reportedly in critical condition have been admitted to the Galewela Hospital, and later transferred to the Dambulla Base Hospital.
Among the deceased were 31 year old and 34 year old males identified as residents of Arachchikattuwa.
The accident is believed to have occurred due to the sleepiness of the drivers, according to Police.
Accordingly, 10 new Treasury bonds and 12 existing Treasury bills have been issued to the NCB on 21 September 2023 as indicated below.
Accordingly, total debt so converted amounted to Rs. 2,713,144,352,006 consisting of Rs. 2,492,347,352,006 into Treasury bonds and Rs. 220,797,000,000 into Treasury bills. Treasury bonds are issuances of new series while Treasury bills are reissuances to existing series.
The maturity of 10 new Treasury bonds is annualized for 10 years ranging from 15 March 2029 to 15 June 2038. The maturity of 12 Treasury bills ranges from 5 months to 12 months in 2024 .
Therefore, it appears that the NCB has restructured nearly 94% of total outstanding credit granted (of around Rs. 2,900 bn, i.e., Rs. 344 bn of provisional advances and Rs. 2,556 bn of Treasury bills) to the government through provisional advances and direct purchase of Treasury bills.
However, 6 areas of misconduct can be traced on the conversion deal as revealed from the limited information disclosed in the NCB press notice. These could be seen as insider acts pursued to raise financial benefits unduly to the NCB at a disadvantage to the government against the very objective of DDO strategy approved by the Parliament.
The purpose of this short article is to highlight those 6 traces as given below. The target audience of the article is the group of professionals interested in the insight into the true outcome of the DDO process and relevant policy-makers.
1. Additional cost burden to debt service
Although the interest was not charged on provisional advances around Rs. 345 bn, the government now has to pay interest on converted bonds and bills. For example, converted bonds receive half-yearly coupons at 12.4%, 7.5% and 5% over the maturity. However, the additional interest cost to the government cannot be estimated as details of the conversion (i.e., underlying debt, interest rate and converted securities) are not disclosed.
2. Maturity restructuring not easing the debt unsustainability
Provisional advances did not practically have maturity dates where the total amount got accumulated with new advances granted each year consequent to new national budget (10% of the budgeted revenue). However, all converted bonds and bills now have maturity dates within next 10 years. New Treasury bills have maturity dates within next year. Therefore, the conversion has raised the burden of the debt unsustainability.
3. New bunching problem
The bunching is the problem of accumulating debt too much for repayment around a date or a week or a month or a year whare the government will find very difficult to raise funds of huge sums for repayment due to market limitations. The debt unsustainability is primarily connected with the bunching.
12 Treasury bills will add to the bunching problem already confronted as Treasury bills issued in the recent past also become due for repayment in almost every week, given the weekly routine of Treasury bill issuance.
Further, the maturity dates of all new Treasury bonds fall due in 2-4 months period from the maturity dates of new Treasury bonds (each face value of Rs. 267 bn) issued to the EPF on 14 September 2023 under the same DDO process. Meanwhile, there can be several other Treasury bonds and bills maturing around these months.
Therefore, raising such huge sums of funds to repay all those bonds and bill will be a daunting task to the government. In that context, the only option would be to rollover them at the maturity at contemporary market interest rates as the government will not have such amounts of budgetary surpluses to redeem debt.
4. Conversion into 12 existing Treasury bills not justified
Issuance of Treasury bills is only a delay of repayment of debt by few more months, i.e., 5-12 months in this case. Therefore, restructuring of any Treasury bills held by the NCB into these 12 Treasury bills is meaningless. If any amount of provisional advances is converted into these Treasury bills, the government will confront a new debt service problem in 2024.
Further, weighted average yield rates of these 12 Treasury bills have not been disclosed to assess whether these bills are financially favourable to the government on DDO. It appears that these are the Treasury bills recently issued at high weighted average yield rates around 28% to 15% which are costly to debt service.
5. Violation of the law
The conversion violates the DDO law and rules authorized by the Minister of Finance under sections 34 and 35 of the Registered Stocks and Securities Ordinance (RSSO) and several other legal provisions governing the government debt.
First, Minister’s DDO authorization does not cover the conversion of provisional advances into Treasury bonds issued under the RSSO. Accordingly, only debt that has been raised through securities (bonds, bills and other negotiable instruments) under any law can be converted into Treasury bonds. However, provisional advances are not securities or negotiable instruments.
Second, the conversion of debt into Treasury bills is not covered in the DDO authorization.
Third, the issuance of Treasury bills is governed by the Local Treasury Bill Ordinance (LTBO) whereas the conversion as provided for in the RSSO is not authorized in the LTBO. The present procedure is to issue Treasury bills with maturities of 91 days, 182 days and 364 days as approved by the Minister of Finance where there is no procedure for part-issuances to the remaining maturities of the existing Treasury bills in the market.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka Act certified on 14 September 2023 does not carry any provisions for the issuance of government securities outside government debt laws although it provides for the conversion of exiting provisional advances and Treasury bills held by the NCB into negotiable debt instruments of the government. Therefore, these debt instruments should be issued in compliance with government debt laws.
Therefore, the NCB has violated the DDO authorization by the Minister and provisions of RSSO and LTBO. Policy actions taken in violation of relevant legislation and authorizations become subject to the review by the Auditor General and law enforcement authorities as such violations accrue undue benefits to those who acted in violation. Therefor, violation of laws and public procedures is a publicly punishable offence.
6. Incorrect clarification given in the press notice regarding the benefits of the conversion
It states as “This conversion contributes to alleviating the Government’s short-term liquidity pressure whilst preserving CBSL financial soundness and ensuring compliance with the reduction in Net Credit to the Government committed to in the context of the Government’s IMF-supported program.” Contents are grossly incorrect and deceptive as highlighted below.
First, the preservation of the NCB’s financial soundness by the conversion is baseless because financial soundness of central banks are not questioned or assessed, given their non-profit seeking based money printing business not being subject to bank runs as in the case of other banks and financials intermediaries.
Second, the alleviation of the government’s short-term liquidity pressure is a baseless claim. The government never confronted any liquidity problems to repay dues to the central bank as they have been rolled over without requiring new funds. In fact, converted bonds and bills are likely to cause short-term liquidity problems to the government to service them due to the aggravated bunching problem.
Third, the compliance with the reduction in net credit to the government under the IMF programme conditionalities is baseless as the total outstanding credit to the government by the NCB does not fall or change because the conversion ends up in the same outstanding amount of credit to different debt instruments. Further, as highlighted above, the conversion does not ease the debt unsustainability problem first raised and publicized by the IMF itself whereas the net credit subject of the IMF is not a part of the debt law relevant to the DDO in the country.
Concluding Remarks
The NCB management has willfully acted to accrue undue financial benefits to the NCB despite the fact that the NCB should have acted for the benefit of the government in order to improve the public finance from the present status of unsustainability and near-term default of domestic debt as alerted by both old CB and NCB being the official public debt manager and fiscal agent for the past 73 years.
The violation of the law of land as well as the sprit of the DDO process (envisaged to ease the financial bankruptcy of the government through domestic debt restructuring) is a punishable offence.
The very objective of a debt restructuring strategy is to ease the borrower’s immediate liquidity and financial condition in order to regain the borrower’s solvency at a fair cost to creditors. However, this DDO conversion brings undue benefits only to the creditor against the objective of the DDO.
Given the acute condition of public finance and its adversity on the socio-economic stability of the country and the central bank’s utter failure in debt management and fiscal agent for the past 73 years, the best strategy would have been the conversion of central bank credit to a long-term bond with a maturity at least 60 years at a nominal annual interest rate around 1% if the conversion had been designed for the country’s macroeconomic benefit and stabilization. This is a fair option as even the present conversion doesn’t have criteria to justify the particular segmentation of bonds and bills, maturities and interest rates as the conversion is a pure private placement decided by the Sperintendent of Public Debt outside his public duties.
Overall, it is strange that the relevant Treasury authorities have blindly endorsed the said conversion deal for the NCB irrespective of fundamental concerns discernible over the deal’s impropriety as highlighted above.
(This article is released in the interest of participating in the professional dialogue to find out solutions to present economic crisis confronted by the general public consequent to the global Corona pandemic, subsequent economic disruptions and shocks both local and global and policy failures.)
P Samarasiri
Former Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka
(Former Director of Bank Supervision, Assistant Governor, Secretary to the Monetary Board and Compliance Officer of the Central Bank, Former Chairman of the Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards Board and Credit Information Bureau, Former Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Institute of Bankers of Sri Lanka, Former Member of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Insurance Regulatory Commission and the Author of 12 Economics and Banking Books and a large number of articles published.
The author holds BA Hons in Economics from University of Colombo, MA in Economics from University of Kansas, USA, and international training exposures in economic management and financial system regulation)
Central Bank’s data reveals that “money printing” on 21Sept’23 recorded a staggering Rs. 334 bn: total Central Bank holdings of Govt Treasury Bills and Bonds reaches an unprecedented Rs.2,839 bn by 22Sept’23: on that basis, money printing under Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe reaches Rs.1,171 bn even after a near 3-fold increase in T-Bill & Bond rates since assuming office.
Finance State Minister Shehan Semasinghe says the restrictions imposed on imported goods except vehicles, will be lifted in October”23: also says “the move will help price stabilization”.
Central Bank announces that the outstanding credits and advances of the CBSL to the Govt have been converted into Negotiable Debt Instruments with Specified Maturities under the “Domestic Debt Optimisation Programme”.
The Chief Negotiators of SL and India hold a virtual meeting to discuss the resumption of the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) between the two countries.
Police manhunt underway in Malaysia for 2 male Sri Lankans over their alleged involvement in the murders of 3 of their fellow countrymen at a shop-house in Sentul, Malaysia: the dead persons were found with their hands & feet tied, and their heads covered in plastic.
Picture of Foreign Minister M U M Ali Sabry with his son Hilal Ali Sabry at an event on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly sparks intense criticism over social media, with people questioning as to why such privileges are offered to the relatives of politicians, with leaders providing joy rides to their close aides.
Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, in his response to the public outcry on his son’s presence at UN events, says he maintains a demanding schedule during his visits to the UN GA and that his son is assisting him as a research assistant cum draft writer on an ad hoc, voluntary basis for a period of time.
Bangladesh Bank confirms that SL has paid back the entirety of USD 200 mn loan from Bangladesh, taken through a currency exchange agreement 2 years ago.
Bar Association of SL calls on the Govt to immediately withdraw the controversial Anti-Terrorism Bill and Online Safety Bill: also claim that those laws would seriously impinge on the liberty & freedom of the people.
Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera instructs his officials to look into the opportunities of exporting eggs and chicken: says that a surplus of eggs is expected to be created by August’24, and that plans have already been made to look into the opportunities in the world market.
Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka’s shrimp and aquaculture industry is brimming with success as a passport to strong economic growth and widespread employment although it causes severe environmental damage, informed sources revealed.
Just outside the world’s top ten producers, it accounts for approximately 50% of the total export earnings from Sri Lankan fisheries. More than 90% of the harvested cultured prawns are exported, going mostly to Japan.
Yet the picture is decidedly mixed on a closer inspection. The country saw an explosion of unregulated aquaculture on the island, bringing riches to a few and the hope of riches or at least an income to many more.
But poor coastal management also brought white spot syndrome virus, a virulent disease that spreads in water and on the feet of birds, and can kill all the prawns in a pond in under a week.
After a recent field study found that a majority of shrimp and aquaculture farms across the country have failed to comply with environmental regulations, fisheries ministry announced.
The Fisheries Ministry directed relevant government agencies, the National Aquatic Culture Development Authority (NAQDA) and the National Aquatic Resources Development and Research Agency (NARA) to take immediate legal action against those farms.
“Take legal action against all the shrimp farms in Mannar and Chilaw areas that don’t release wastewater in a proper way,” Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda directed senior officials at a meeting held recently to discuss issues regarding the mismanagement of shrimp farms in the North and North-Western provinces.
While stressing the need to take legal action against those companies “irrespective of their status”, Mr. Devananda also directed officials to submit a report on action taken and take action against the NAQDA officials who did not fulfil their responsibility, according to a statement issued by the ministry on the meeting.
A separate report has also been called on the measures taken against NAQDA officials who failed in their duties to ensure that shrimp farms adhered to environmental regulations.
A recent field study carried out by relevant agencies found that of the 670 shrimp farms in the Chilaw and Puttalam areas, at least 273 lacked proper wastewater management plans.
The directives came after a shrimp farm run by Taprobane Seafoods, located near an environmentally sensitive Vidathalthivu protected natural sanctuary, was found to be discharging wastewater from the farm, resulting in the death of fish banks in the nearby waterway and the surrounding natural habitat.
Mr. Devananda also questioned the effects of the wastewater released by another shrimp farm in the Erukkulam area in Mannar. He asked officials to inform the shrimp farm, which lacked an adequate system to manage wastewater, that they should prepare a suitable system within six months.
Colombo (LNW): The Chief Negotiators of Sri Lanka and India held talks to resume Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) negotiations years after it was stopped following political-led opposition in 2016.
“The Chief Negotiators of Sri Lanka and India recently held a virtual meeting on September 19th to discuss the resumption of Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) negotiations,” the President’s Media Division said in a statement.
“This marks the continuation of talks after 11 previous rounds of negotiations.”
Both South Asian neighbour already have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in place with India is earning more foreign exchange in the trade.
Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa-led nationalist Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party and some of professional bodies backing the party opposed the ETCA when it was scheduled to be signed.Later, the signing was postponed, but never took place.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe is backed by the SLPP after mass protested against the party and Rajapaksa family members forced them out of the offices.
Analysts say ETCA was used for political mileage by SLPP triggering an anti-Indian sentiment when it was the opposition without properly assessing its threats and opportunities.
The SLPP-led government under ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa also unilaterally suspended an FTA signed with Singapore, citing that it was a threat for Sri Lanka’s service.
Data, however, show Sri Lanka has gained from the FTA with India.India was Sri Lanka’s largest trading partner with an overall bilateral merchandise trade of $ 5.45 billion in 2021.
Sri Lankan exports to India have increased since 2000 when the FTA came into force.
he Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is to be upgraded to an Economic and Technology Co-operation Agreement (ECTA).
President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that ECTA is essential as India is going to be the next growth center and will trigger off growth in South Asia.
“We are just 22 miles away and we have to work especially to ensure that the synergies of Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu are brought together,” the President said.
He said that Sri Lanka aims to achieve a significant development goal in the next 25 years by working alongside other countries in the Indian Ocean and South Asia.
President Wickremesinghe said that as a small country with a strong democratic tradition and an open economy, Sri Lanka has always maintained its political independence and viewed India, its closest neighbor with the longest relations, as the protector of the region.
The President also highlighted Sri Lanka’s role in building a new economy by collaborating with the development of the Asian region and India, moving away from the old economy.
He suggested that the free trade agreement with India should be elevated to an economic cooperation and technical agreement and expressed his willingness to enter into an agreement with the largest trade group in Asia, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which would allow Sri Lanka to continue trading with the largest trade group in the world.
President Wickremesinghe said that Sri Lanka’s access to the growing Indian and African markets should not be disrupted by any big power rivalry or conflict.
Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka has paid off US$ 50 million more to Bangladesh as the final installment of a US$ 200 million loan taken under a currency swap agreement two years ago, surprising the Bangladeshi authorities by sticking to its obligations, official sources aid.
Bangladesh was surprised over a quick repayment of a loan borrowed during a currency crisis, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has told Sri Lanka president Ranil Wickremesinghe, his office said in a statement recently.
Citing a senior Bangladesh Bank official, The Daily Star said the Sri Lankan government has also paid US$ 4.5 million as interest on the loan amount on Thursday (Sept. 21).
Sri Lanka repaid USD 100 million on September 02, 2023, and USD 50 million more on August 17, 2023.
The island nation paid back the loan as its embattled economy is heading towards recovery from its worst economic crisis just a year ago. Its inflation rocketed to 69.8 percent in September last year. In July, however, inflation stood at 6.3 percent.
On the other hand, Bangladesh is facing a foreign exchange crisis after its reserve dropped sharply in the past one and a half years owing to higher import bills compared to lower-than-expected remittance and export earnings.
The gross forex reserve came down to US$ 21.45 billion on September 21 in line with the International Monetary Fund’s calculation formula, Bangladesh Bank data showed.
Sri Lanka has repaid its lender, Bangladesh, the entire $200 million loan taken through a currency-exchange agreement called SWAP more than two years ago.
Amazingly, the island nation, which had been in dire financial and economic straits even months ago, also paid total interest amounting to over $25.537 million.
“Sri Lanka has paid its third and final instalment amounting to $51.044 million (principal plus interest) on Thursday night,” said a central banker of Bangladesh.
However, getting back the loan amount had become uncertain at a time when the island country had declared itself sovereign debt defaulter.
Sri Lanka sought extension several times to repay the amount to Bangladesh Bank.As the Lankan economy has started to turn around this year, it has been quick in its capacity to repay foreign debt.
The completion of this repayment was confirmed by BB spokesperson and executive director Md Mezbaul Haque.
As the currency swap deal was agreed in 2021, Sri Lanka was supposed to repay the amount within three months.
In May 2022, Bangladesh extended the term to repay to September 2023 and the interest rate was revised upward to LIBOR plus 2.5 per cent.The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has paid the interest amount with every instalment. When Bangladesh extended the loan, its forex reserve was in comfort zone, which now stands at $21.45 billion.
Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka’s vehicle importers have strongly protested against the government’s move to permit electric and hybrid electric vehicle imports with zero tariff to one company, under the guise of electric and hybrid vehicle assembling in the country.
This decision could deprive the state coffers billions of rupees while causing a massive foreign exchange outflow during the next two-year period, Secretary to the vehicle importers association Sri Lanka (VIASL) Arosha Rodrigo told media conference in colon this week.
In the wake of tax concessions for electric vehicle imports Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC) has entered in to a strategic collaboration with Auto Capital Investment (Pvt) Ltd (ACIPL) to provide comprehensive motor vehicle insurance cover along with a warranty cover for five years for brand new electric vehicles imported by ACIPL.
With the aim of extending tax benefits to a leading motor trading company a cabinet memorandum has been put forward by Ministry of Investment promotion to impose a zero (%) customs tariff on the CIF value to import electric vehicles with power up to 500kwor Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PEHV) up to 3000CC in semi-knockdown (SKD) form for local assembly.
This is for a minimum investment of US$50 million by companies already agreed with BOI or new companies entering into agreements, VIAL sectratry alleged. .
However, there is no value addition required on these vehicles in the first two years, which is designed to benefit a single company (Senok Automobile Assembly Pvt LTD) which is believed to have fulfilled these requirements in 2021, he added.
If this gets approved by the cabinet, this will have a severe impact on our already deteriorating economy affecting our foreign currency reserve as well as the national income, he claimed.
Western Automobile Assembly (Pvt) Ltd (Initially known as Senok Automobile Assembly (Pvt) Ltd) has signed the agreement with BOI on 13/08/2015 to assemble Diesel vehicles of engine capacity from 1000cc to 2000cc.
It is using imported brand-new Semi Knocked down (SKD) units provided by technical collaborator, Volkswagen AG of Germany with an envisaged investment of US $ 26.5 Mn as a local investment.
An eight (8) year tax holiday was granted and thereafter concessionary tax rate of 15% or any tax rate under the prevailing Inland Revenue Law, whichever is less.
The Company has requested from the BOI to implement an all-inclusive “ZERO” percent (0%) flat tariff on CIF value, instead of the existing 30% tariff, for the importation of brand new SKD kits for the assembly of Electric Vehicles, Electric Two Wheelers and Plug-in-Hybrid Electric Vehicles.
As per the Cabinet Decision taken No22/1026/504/04 dated 19/07/2022 and the Extra Ordinary Gazette Notification No.2290/19 published by the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies on 27/07/2022.
Claim by Senok Automobile on how the project requirement is fulfilled Senok Automobile Assembly Pvt LTD claims to have fulfilled these requirements via investments made back in 2021.
Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka has settled the entirety of US $200 million loan from Bangladesh, taken through a currency swap two years ago to address the economic crisis, Dhaka-based Dhaka Tribune reported.
In its report, the news agency claimed that Sri Lanka in the last intalment paid about US $50 million and US $4.5 million in interest on the loan on Thursday night, citing a senior official of Bangladesh Bank.
Sri Lanka took this loan for a period of one year in May 2021. However, the country failed to repay the loan due to a worsening domestic economic crisis and the Sri Lankan government declared itself bankrupt, hence the country taking an extension to repay the debt several times.
This year, Sri Lanka’s economy started to turn around and the country was able to repay the debt.
According to Bangladesh Bank, Sri Lanka initially repaid US $50 million on August 20. Then on August 31, it returned US $100 million. Finally, they returned the remaining US $50 million on Thursday night.
Sri Lanka has paid off the loan taken from Bangladesh in three instalments.
