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India’s economic aid package in two weeks

20 Feb 2022

The economic relief package from India to assist Sri Lanka “urgently” to overcome the present economic crisis is anticipated to be received by 1 March 2022, Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle confirmed to The Sunday Morning Business. The economic relief package includes support on foreign reserves, petroleum imports, imports, and other much-needed financial assistance of approximately $ 900 million. “They (India) have to get their security clearances, Cabinet approvals, etc. Once cleared at the top, the bureaucracy has to work,” Attygalle said. However, when asked about the value of the package or what else the aid package would include, Attygalle refused to divulge information as the Government of India was yet to grant approval. On 10 December 2021, the Economic Times newspaper, citing officials that it did not identify, stated that India was expected to extend a food and health security package to Sri Lanka on an urgent basis, along with an energy security package and a currency swap, and was also expected to push Indian investments. The newspaper quoted an official as saying: “The food and health security package will envisage the extension of a line of credit to cover the import of food, medicines, and other essential items from India. The energy package will also comprise a line of credit to cover the import of fuel from India and an early modernisation of the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm. There is also an offer of a currency swap to help Sri Lanka address its current balance of payment issues.”  – By Yakuta Dawood


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