Sri Lanka has settled USD 55 million out of its USD 250.9 million fuel debt to Iran through tea exports, Sri Lanka Tea Board Chairman Niraj De Mel said.
He said under the Memorandum of Understanding with Iran, Sri Lanka commenced the repayment of its fuel debt through tea exports starting in August last year.
The Sri Lanka Tea Board Chairman revealed that to date, Sri Lanka has repaid USD 55 million of this debt.
In the first four months of 2024, Sri Lanka exported 4.1 million kilograms of processed tea to Iran, marking a threefold increase compared to the amount exported during the same period in 2023, he added.
In December 2021, it was announced that Iran had agreed to accept Ceylon tea in exchange for some $251 million in oil debt from Sri Lanka.
Head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization, Alireza Peyman-Pak said “In recent negotiations, we reached a written deal to reimburse Iran’s debt and interest on it in the form of a monthly shipment of tea produced in Sri Lanka.”
At the time, Peyman-Pak further said a deal was reached in which Sri Lanka would export tea to Iran every month “to settle a $251 million debt for Iranian oil supplied to Sri Lanka nine years ago.” (Newswire)