President Ranil Wickremesinghe delivered a special statement to the nation today, highlighting Sri Lanka’s success in reaching final agreements to restructure debt with its bilateral creditors, including the Official Creditor Committee (OCC) and the Export-Import Bank of China.
The total value of debt restructuring agreements that Sri Lanka reached today with creditor nations is US$ 10 billion, which will provide up to 92% relief on debt repayments during the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) EFF programme.
Addressing the nation, President Ranil Wickremesinghe announced that today marks a significant milestone in the recent history of Sri Lanka, as the country has successfully reached a final agreement with its official bilateral creditors.
Following are five key points from the President’s special address to the nation;
- Today, debt restructuring agreements were finalized with Sri Lanka’s official creditors in Paris and with the Chinese Exim Bank in Beijing. This development is a significant milestone, bringing good news to all who cherish the country.
- Debt restructuring agreements will postpone all bilateral loan payments to foreign countries until 2028. Additionally, Sri Lanka will have until 2043 to repay these loans on concessional terms.
- Following Sri Lanka’s official declaration of its inability to repay loans, all transactions and foreign-funded development projects were suspended. The successful debt restructuring now paves the way to resume these projects and transactions.
- After six consecutive quarters of economic contraction, Sri Lanka’s economy began to grow again from the third quarter of 2023. The country’s foreign reserves, which depleted to a critical low by April 2022, have now rebounded to $5.5 billion.
- In 2022, Sri Lanka allocated 9.2% of its GDP to foreign debt payments. However, with ongoing efforts, this percentage is expected to decrease to less than 4.5% between 2027 and 2032, reflecting significant fiscal improvement. (Newswire)