• Rates allowed to be maintained at 2.1% or below

Sri Lanka will save $ 5 billion through the reduced interest payments agreed with the bilateral creditors with an extended repayment period of 8 years, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said.

Speaking at Parliament yesterday (2), he said that Sri Lanka has managed to reduce the interest payments of the debt significantly with interest rates allowed to be maintained at 2.1% or below that.

He added that the bilateral creditors have agreed to extend the repayment period of the debt by 8 years, after starting the repayment in 2028 and completing the repayment by 2043.

He said that Sri Lanka can save $ 5 billion outflows through the reduced interest payments agreed with the bilateral creditors.

Last week, Sri Lanka signed agreements with China Exim Bank and the Official Creditor Committee which involves the Paris Club and India to restructure about $ 10 billion in bilateral debt.

Moreover, the President said that the authorities are successfully carrying out the discussions with the bondholders and the Government expects to complete the debt treatment process with the bondholders very soon.

He added that he will submit all agreements and documents regarding debt restructuring to the Committee on Public Finance Committee to provide a detailed analysis on the agreements.

Further, he said that after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding(MoU), Sri Lanka will have the opportunity to access bilateral loans.

Wickremesinghe said that the country can recommence foreign funded projects that were suspended as result of the debt payment suspension.