President highlights debt sustainability, Asia’s significance at Nikkei Forum
COLOMBO (News 1st); Debt sustainability consequent to COVID-19 is the critical impasse of several Asian nations, Sri Lanka being one of the first and worst affected, said President Ranil Wickremesinghe when he took the stage at the ‘Nikkei Forum: Future of Asia’ held in Tokyo, Japan on Thursday (25).According to the full speech made public by the President's Media Division, President Wickremesinghe had noted that As a middle-income country, Sri Lanka accepted that: a) Time is of an essence in resolving the issues of debt sustainability, and b) The only option available for vulnerable middle-income countries is to seek the assistance of the IMF to ensure multilateral coordination and cooperation in debt restructuring.'Decisions were quickly taken to enter negotiations, talks began in June last year, a Staff-Level Agreement was reached in September, the IMF Executive Board approved a US $3bn loan under the Extended Fund Facility in March 2023, and Parliamentary approval was obtained in April this year.
We have now started creditor meetings and hope for a successful conclusion before end of 2023," said the President."This process involves the multilateral agencies, Paris Club members, India, China and the private creditors.
India is working with the Paris Club, while China, in addition to holding bi-lateral meetings, is also taking part in the creditor meetings.
United States
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India
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