COLOMBO (NewsRadio); Japan, India and France today announced a common platform for talks among bilateral creditors to coordinate restructuring of Sri Lanka’s debt.
Speaking during the launch, Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said the launch of the negotiation process is a historic feat.
The initiative launched by Japan, this year’s G7 chair, with the aim of kicking off a series of meetings among Sri Lanka’s creditors.
Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said, “To be able to launch this negotiation process gathering such a broad-based group of creditors is a historical outcome.”
Japanese Finance Minister Suzuki said the committee is open to all creditors.
Meanwhile, French Director General of the Treasury Emmanuel Moulin told the briefing that the group was ready to hold the first round of talks “as soon as possible.”
President Ranil Wickremesinghe says Sri Lanka remains committed to continue to engage with all creditor nations and other stakeholders in a transparent manner based on the principles of comparable treatment.
The President made these remarks during launch of the debt restructuring negotiation process on Sri Lanka.
President Wickremesinghe joined the press briefing in Washington virtually and thanked the government of Japan for organizing the crucial meeting together with the government of India and France.
The Head of State noted that the launch marks the beginning of the coordinated efforts of official bilateral creditor nations to make swift progress to resolving Sri Lanka’s debt issue.
President Wickremesinghe said that the International Monetary Fund program has been presented to Parliament for approval, and the government aims to introduce new legislations that would incorporate the main features of the IMF arrangement.
The President said, “We thank the authorities of Paris Club as well as non Paris club nations offering timely financing assurances that enabled the IMF for Sri Lanka’s request for a fund supported comprehensive economic adjustment program.”
During the briefing, President Wickremesinghe said that he hopes other bilateral and multilateral partners as well as commercial creditors will also join in providing assistance for Sri Lanka to successfully complete the debt restructuring process at the earliest.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe concluded by saying, “At this critical juncture of our economy, we rely on your swift continued and unwavering support to reemerge from this crisis and establish a solid foundation enabling us to uplift the socio-economic well-being of our population.”
Meanwhile, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Nandalal Weerasinghe earlier this week said having a single platform for talks would be a welcome move that would make it easier to discuss and share information.
Sri Lanka last month secured a USD 2.9 billion programme from the International Monetary Fund to tackle its huge debt burden.
But Sri Lanka as a middle-income economy could not apply for relief under the G20’s common framework for debt treatments, which targets only low-income countries.
That has put the onus on major economies to come up with an alternative scheme, leading to the creation of the new platform.
Sri Lanka owes USD 7.1 billion to bilateral creditors, according to official data from the government, with USD 3 billion owed to China, followed by USD 2.4 billion to the Paris Club and USD 1.6 billion to India.
The government also needs to renegotiate more than USD 12 billion of debt in eurobonds with overseas private creditors, and USD 2.7 billion on other commercial loans.
Sri Lanka kicked off talks to rework part of its domestic debt this month and aims to finalize the deal by May.
