• Paris Club’s end October deadline for deal lapses
• Govt. awaits Exim Bank’s nod to share documents

The end-October deadline for the finalisation of Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring programme by the Paris Club consortium of the country’s creditors has been further delayed, with the consortium waiting to see the framework agreement on debt treatment reached between Sri Lanka and China’s Export-Import Bank (Exim Bank), The Sunday Morning learns.

Highly-placed Government sources told The Sunday Morning that the delay in the Paris Club consortium’s final proposal on Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring was due to a request by the consortium for the agreement reached between Sri Lanka and China’s Exim Bank. 

The Paris Club consortium has also informed the Sri Lankan Government that the final proposal would be delayed until it had had a look at the Chinese deal.

However, it is also learnt that the Chinese side is yet to respond to a request made by the Sri Lankan Government for permission to share the agreement with the Paris Club consortium, since a confidentiality clause in the said agreement prevents either party from sharing it with another.

“The Government (Sri Lanka) has already requested the Chinese side for permission to share the agreement with the Paris Club, but there has not been any response yet,” the source explained, adding that the Government was also trying to expedite China’s approval process through diplomatic channels.

China last month surprised the rest of Sri Lanka’s bilateral creditors by announcing that China’s Exim Bank had reached a preliminary deal with Sri Lanka on debt treatment. 

The announcement was further strengthened during President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s official visit to China last month.