(LANKAPUVATH | COLOMBO) – President Ranil Wickremesinghe announced that Sri Lanka is among the first middle-income countries to utilize the new debt sustainability analysis framework, introduced specifically for middle-income nations, to undertake debt restructuring.
Delivering a special statement in Parliament today (02), the President further stated that Sri Lanka’s foreign debt totals USD 37 billion.
He mentioned that this includes USD 10.6 billion in bilateral debt, USD 11.7 billion in multilateral debt, USD 14.7 billion in commercial debt and USD 12.5 billion in sovereign bonds.
In his special statement, President Wickremesinghe also announced to the Parliament that that an agreement was reached on June 26th with Sri Lanka’s official creditors concerning debt repayment.
Wickremesinghe said that authorized Cabinet officials have signed these agreements on behalf of Sri Lanka.
Highlighting the specific details of the agreements reached with the official creditor committee co-chaired by India, Japan and France and China Exim Bank on debt restructuring, the President noted that the agreements include a grace period for principal repayment extended until 2028.
He further pointed out that the interest rates have been maintained at or below 2.1% and a full debt repayment grace period was extended until 2043.
Additionally, the Head of the State noted that based on the agreements reached on debt restructuring, the repayment of the principal loan amount can be incrementally increased, thereby deferring debt servicing costs.
Consequently, the President mentioned that Sri Lanka will have remaining debt service of USD 5 billion.
