INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Sri Lanka hopes that China will assist the country in its bid to restructure the external debt in the ongoing negotiations, Foreign Minister
Ali Sabry said on Monday.Sabry said negotiations have been progressing well with the Chinese as they are believed to hold over 50 per cent
along with its slightly higher domestic debt of USD 42 billion.On Saturday, the government got its local debt restructuring plan approved in
its USD 2.9 billion bailout programme extended in mid-March.Sri Lanka approached the IMF for a bailout in April 2022 after declaring its
a bailout package was approved for Sri Lanka.The IMF programme unlocks more help from international funding agencies
Accordingly, the World Bank, earlier this week, approved USD 700 million in financing as budgetary and welfare support for Sri Lanka, which
is facing its worst economic crisis.Source: PTI--Agencies
